The Jolly Rocker
by CuteMcBeauty
Summary: In his cursed Storybrook persona, Killian is Devlin Kragen, the lead singer of the band called "Captain Hook and the Jolly Rogers" and happens to be a bit of a rock star. And of course, like all rockers, he ocassionaly gets busted for debauchery. Except this time, he really wasn't expecting to get arrested by some bombshell sheriff called Emma.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all!**

**I originally intended this to be a one-shot, but it just kept feeding itself until it became a two episode Frankenstein. I had a lot of fun writing this one! Enjoy and please comment! Thanx!**

She was summoned from a very pleasant dream by the sound of her mobile being texted at in the middle of the night.

"What the hell..." She moaned, as she reached for it, the mild green light from the screen hurting her squinting eyes. It was a local call report for debauchery. Time to go to work.

Citizen watch sucked.

As Emma rose from her bed, she rubbed her neck and growled. Storybrooke was ridiculously small and her job as Sherriff had so far required little more than maybe patrolling, scolding kids for jaywalking, and maybe teenagers stealing cigarettes from a shop. What else was there in this pathetic suburban life? Really, what could happen at four o'clock in the morning?

She haphazardly brushed through her blonde hair and put on her little red leather jacket before grabbing the keys to her Patrol Car, speeding off to Main with her gun and badge firmly clasped on her right hip. As she turned, she saw what seemed to be a man walking errantly in zigzag patterns. He was singing, too.

"Great. I got woken to take care of the local wino…" She huffed as she pulled over, bracing herself for any possibility of violence.

She pulled over under a street lamp and walked to the guy, one hand over the holster of her gun. "Hey!" She called out as she paced to him. "Excuse me!"

The man swung in a single turn and smiled at her. "Ah!" He smiled, tumbling around. "Come to join the party then, have you, love?"

A British accent... interesting, especially in view of the hoards of foreigners that loved to visit the bumfuck town of Storybrooke... not.

Emma frowned. "I'm afraid the party is actually over, buddy, you're disturbing the peace..." She continued to walk assertively towards the staggering, drunken hobo. "Come on, let's get you home, Sir."

He took three swaggering steps towards her, standing under the light. "My place or yours, darling?" He leaned his head closer to hers with a cheeky, malevolent grin. "Or shall we take it to Granny's B&B?"

Emma side grinned. "How about a kennel down at the animal shelter, pal?"

"As long as there's room service..." He tried to reach out with his right hand to touch her hair.

Emma moved back in one swift motion. "Whoa Buddy, too close for comfort!" She huffed, holding one hand out in front of her. "I'm warning you..." She showed him her handcuffs.

The man inhaled through tight pursing lips and squinted. "Oh, a tough lass, you are. Terribly sexy..." He looked up into her eyes and licked his lips. "Tell you what, darling... I let you chain me down, and you..." He continued pushing towards her. "...let me do the rest whichever way I can..."

She gave him a single hard shove and he crashed back against the Patrol, widening his eyes and laughing.

"You're out of line, pal." She reached out and turned him around, pressing him down against the hood of the car. "You're under arrest." She whisked him down, looking for possible weapons.

"Oi there, you didn't even buy me flowers first." He hissed.

"Shut up." She huffed as she produced a wallet and a small flask from his back trouser pocket. "Do you usually take the party with you, mister..?."

"Kragen..." He turned and stood mere inches from her face, grinning devilishly. "But you can just call me Devlin, sweetheart." He licked his lower lip lasciviously. "And no, I don't "take" the party, love... I AM the party."

"Sure you are... get in the car." She said as she opened the door and tucked his head in to sit at the back.

She walked around and sat behind the wheel, starting the engine. Devlin leaned his chin right behind her, by her shoulder. "So, are we done with the pleasantries?" He grinned.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Please sit back, Mr. Kragen."

"Oh, come on, love, you can do better than that!" He wrinkled his nose. "Come on... try harder, I'm not really that hard to get." And he kissed her ear... licked, rather.

She turned and shoved him back. He bounced against the back of his seat and laughed.

"You're really quite the funny guy, aren't ya?" She looked at him through the rear view mirror. "Just where on earth do you come from, buddy?"

"Why, from Storybrooke, Maine, of course, like the rest of us."

"Nah, not with that accent, you don't."

"It's just the way I'm made, love..." He leered at her. "And you? I don't recall ever seeing you around, for sure..."

"I'm not having this conversation with you." She smiled.

He once again sat up. "Ah why not, love? I won't bite you... not too hard, anyway... and not in any places you won't enjoy... More like, nibble..."

She sighed deep and grinned as she rolled her eyes. "You REALLY need to get laid, pal."

"That I do..." He winked. "Might I tickle your fancy? Or anything else?"

This time she just chuckled. But he continued to stare at her through the mirror. His eyes were the deepest, most intense blue she had ever seen and he was, to be precise, not a guy she would have turned down on a hot date, if of course, he weren't some drunken asshole on the prowl. He sported an unshaven jaw line and a piercing on his right ear and she was shocked to notice that he wore eyeliner which, by the way, she hated to admit looked far better on him than it ever had on her. He was dressed in a black t-shirt, a black leather biker jacket and ripped trousers over biker boots and he looked somewhat of a lout; And a damn good looking lout.

They reached the precinct and the handsome, rugged troublemaker grinned as Emma led him to the cell. She turned on the lights and after closing the jail cell behind her with a key, she stood, looking at the man before her. "Ok, Mr. Kragen, hands out, I'll remove those things..."

With a grin and an upward, dangerously sensual glare, Devlin stuck his hands out through the bars. After she removed the cuffs, he leaned his head close and whispered, "Thank you, milady..." and winked.

Emma swallowed and returned his glare. She went on to sit behind her desk, placing his meager belongings on the desk.

"Let's see now, Mr. Kragen..."

"Devlin, love... let's leave the formalities, we're getting to know each other so well…" He cackled back.

She looked at him from her side and shook her head with a sigh as she returned to his personals, witting them down on a list. "One wallet with... two hundred dollars..."

"Got paid tonight. Not a crime now, is it, Sherriff?"

"One Driver's license... Devlin Kragen..." She looked at his ID photograph. "Says here you're... twenty eight?"

"I'm as old as the devil, love..."

"Whatever... twenty... eight..." She jotted down. "One guitar pick... make that two... One flask with..." She smelled inside the bottle and sneered. "...rum, one joint..." She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Pot? Really?"

"That's not mine." He smiled.

"Yeah, right." She shook her head and went for the final item, not wanting to get into a whole lot of trouble regarding Maine's anti-drug use laws. "One key ring shaped like... a hook?"

"Aye, love..."

"What are you, some kind of Goth?" She sneered. "Aren't you a little too old for that?"

Devlin stood up and smiled. "I'm Captain Hook, darling."

Emma chuckled. "Yeah, and I'm Tinkerbell."

"How do you do, Miss Bell?"

"Right..." She shook her head. "Who do I call to settle your bail price, Captain Whacko?"

"Try my manager..." He huffed. "You'll find his card in there. Or you might not need to. Mr. Gold." His grin disappeared. "I'm sure you know him."

"Manager?" Emma frowned.

"Captain Hook and the Jolly Rogers, love." He smiled again. "Lead vocals and rhythm guitar…That would be me."

She smiled at him nodding. "You're a musician."

Even though it was plain to see he was sobering up, he didn't lose his pose. "And might the lovely Sheriff of this town have a name?"

"Emma Swan."

"Emma..." He grinned, leaning his arms on the bar of the jail cage door. "Charming name." A tattoo in his left inner arm depicted a name ridged into a heart, stabbed by a knife.

"Milah." Emma nodded. "Maybe we can call her as well."

He frowned. "I got that done during a drunken binge, love, I have no idea who she is..." He pulled his arms back.

The sun was beginning to rise on the horizon. "Ah Shit…. Come on…" She moaned in frustration, realizing that in mere minutes the town would start to buzz into life and her chances of returning home to resume her sleep were now practically nonexistent.

"Got you out of bed, did I?" He winked at her. "Pity I don't remember getting you in bed, to begin with... crying shame, I'll never drink again."

She huffed and went to the cabinet to produce the camera they used in the office; as she installed it on the tripod, Devlin looked at her with a dreadfully evil-looking grin. He hadn't stopped staring at her at all.

"Do you have a previous record there, Devlin?"

"Larger than a sailing barge, love!" He laughed. "I must have... Sheriff Graham must have been sweet for my pretty face."

Emma stared daggers at him; she hadn't completely recovered from his tragic, sudden stroke, just as they had fallen for each other. She decided to let it go as she went into the cabinet, looking for his name. She indeed found an inch thick file of him: Drunkenness, assault, harassment, assault, loitering, disturbing the peace, vandalism, drunkenness, vandalism, assault, battery, drunkenness, breach of property, drunkenness, assault…

"Wow, you have quite a list of misdemeanors here, Devlin!" She smiled. "You're quite the little troublemaker, aren't you?"

"I prefer dashing rapscallion."

She shot her eyes up at him from under her brow. She then went to the phone and picked it up. "I'll call Gold now. With any luck you'll be out of my hair within ten minutes."

"I doubt that, darling, he sleeps late."

"So do I!" She snapped and slammed the phone down. "Ugh, I need to get some coffee. Would you like some?"

He raised his eyes and for the first time since the whole event had started, he seemed legitimately interested. "I wouldn't mind one, love..."

"Salt? One spoonful or two?" She giggled.

He sneered. "Black... please... Sheriff Swan."

Just as Emma was setting up to go, she was joined by her temporary assistant, Ruby, from Granny's.

"Morning!" she chirped.

"Ah, you are a godsend." Emma huffed, hanging her jacket back up on the rack. "Urgent java."

The young girl nodded. "Ok, Java, coming right up! How do you want it?"

"One double shot latte and one black."

Ruby sneered. "Must have been quite a night..."

"You have no idea..." She tilted her head in the cell's direction, where Devlin stood leaning against the bars, the epitome of a sexy jailbird.

"Oh, my god, OMIGOD, OMIGOD, OMIGOD!" Ruby screamed jumping up and down. "IT'S CAPTAIN HOOK!"

Emma sneered, frustrated. "Aw, come on... really?"

"Oh..." Ruby flushed and walked to Devlin, who grinned a wolf-like smile at the beautiful young girl. "I am SUCH a fan! OMIGOD!"

He didn't need a cue. "Why, thank you, darling, and what might your name be?" He whispered in that deep, husky voice.

"Ruby... I saw you last weekend at the Dwarf's Inn Bar! You rock, man!"

"Oh, you have no idea. Tell your boss to set me loose, love and I will personally show you how much I rock..." He reached out and caressed her chin.

Ruby nearly fainted. Emma intervened as she pulled the girl from the shoulders. "Okaaay, coffee Ruby, now!"

The flustered girl left in an uncontained fit of giggly spasm and Devlin looked in her direction. "Where were you beauties all those times the Sheriff busted my arse before?" He huffed. "This certainly makes the clink far more... interesting."

Emma sighed and went to him with her handcuffs. "Hands out."

He calmly complied. Emma adjusted the cuffs and then proceeded to open the jail cell, pulling him out. With the same cheeky grin, he allowed himself to be dragged out of the cell and stood before the camera. "Ok then, Devlin..." Emma said as she shifted the lettering on the card for his mugshot. "One more for your mighty record; Here..." She handed him the card. "Hold that up. Look this way, please..."

She didn't know whether to laugh or weep when he grinned a powerfully sensual smile at the camera. SNAP SNAP. "Ok now, on your side..."

"Oh, I love a creative woman, suggesting different positions. We'd make a hell of a team, there, Swan..."

Emma looked at him over the camera. "That's Sheriff Swan. Just turn to your side, Devlin."

The man complied, still holding the card up before the lens. "You take this really seriously, don't you?"

"It's my job." She replied with a tilt of the head. "I need your finger prints. "

He paced to her and stood before her face. "You ever heard us play, love?"

"I never heard of you at all, period."

"You don't know Captain Hook and the Jolly Rogers?"

"I know Captain Hook."

"Ah, so you've heard of me!"

She looked up once at him and then back to her ink cushion and cardboard fingerprint slates. "No. I've heard of the pirate in Peter Pan books. I don't know you or your band."

"Well, then you're definitely a newcomer in town." He grinned. "Had you been to one of our gigs, you'd know it… And I would quite certainly remember you."

The cardboard pieces and ink pad made a mess of her fingers. "Shit... damn small town, whatever happened to digital technology?"

He took two steps to her. "I know a thing or two about digital stuff..." He tilted his head sideways with a smile. "I'm a very... very 'digital' kind of man, love. I could show you..."

She turned and shoved him back again. "Look, I've had it with you and your sexual innuendos! You come on to me one more time and I swear to GOD I'll cut your balls off!" She snapped.

He laughed and stepped back, raising his hands. "Oh, now, now, we wouldn't want that, would we?" He sighed. "I'll be a good boy…. for now." And another wink.

She violently tugged his fingers and got his prints as she spoke. "Good. Then BE a good boy and get... the fuck... back... in your cell."

He winced as he stepped into the cell, walking backwards and still smiling. "Ooooh, a potty mouth, are you? And here I was trying to be a gentleman."

She slammed the jail shut and beckoned him with his hand. He silently paced forward and stuck his hands out again so she could once more remove the cuffs. He rubbed his wrists and looked at her. "You know, having a bloke say things like the things I say to you, love, is not such a bad thing."

"Yeah? Well where I come from we call that harassment, dude, and it can land you a five year prison sentence."

"I'm not harassing... I'm flirting." He shrugged. "I haven't even touched you."

"You licked my ear."

"I was drunk."

"You still are."

"Go on, love, you got me booked, just let me out now..."

"No can do."

He sighed and sat on the bed. She went back to doing some pending paperwork while the man in the cell slowly slipped into an agonizing hangover. After ten minutes, Ruby returned with the coffee... and with company. Two or three young women, roughly the same age as her. "See? I told you!"

The three women whined and swooned. Devlin shot a glance at them from his bed and grinned mildly before once again hiding his face behind his hands. The incoming hangover was definitely putting a damper on his flirty mood.

"Ruby, what the hell!" Emma huffed.

"I'm sorry!" Ruby smiled excitedly. "I really am sorry, Emma, but that's Devlin Kragen!"

"I'm aware of that!"

"He's gorgeous!" One girl moaned.

"We love you, Hook!" Another shouted.

"He's a rock star!" Another girl whined.

"Hardly..." Emma sighed. "Axl Rose was a rock star; Freddy Mercury was a rock star; Elvis was a rock star; this guy's just..."

"Hey!" He whined from the cell.

"Look, you guys, really, go home." She looked at Ruby. "The coffee?"

"Oh..." Ruby gasped and put her hand on her mouth. "I..."

Emma shook her head. "Really?"

The young woman ran out to get the coffee. Devlin laughed quietly. "Well, there, Swan, quite a shock, isn't it? The blackheart you picked from the alleys last night is 'Devlin Kragen'...The Captain Hook…" He smiled at her, squinting. "Don't you feel like you are, perhaps... a bit behind news?"

"The only one who's gonna be behind till I get a hold of Gold, is you."

"You have a very hard time being nice, now, don't you, Sheriff?"

She looked at him and sighed. "I'm very nice. I just don't do well with troublemakers."

He chuckled. "Didn't you ever get in trouble, love? Or have you always been the angel you seem to look like?"

She stared at him harshly and he returned the challenging glare. Emma hated to admit it, but he was right; she was a thief when I younger, a carjacker and a thief. She did time in jail and gave her own son away. She indeed had some red numbers in her checkbook. Devlin smiled and raised his eyebrows. "Ah… hit a nerve, have I? Don't worry there, Swan, takes one to know one…"

Emma turned around and continued to file his new booking when her attention was drawn by the sound of murmuring outside the door. She frowned and went to see what the fuss was about: A hoard of teenagers and young women were standing outside the precinct. Ruby stood with them, holding the two cups of coffee with an embarrassed grin.

Emma shook her head and pulled her in, closing the door behind them. "Are you kidding me?" she hollered, hands on her hips. "Just who the hell did you tell this guy was here, the New York Times?"

Ruby shrunk her shoulders and grimaced. "I may have… told a few people at Granny's…" She moaned. "I'm sorry Emma, it's just that… he's Storybrooke's biggest rock star…"

"You mean, only rock star." Emma rolled her eyes.

"Hey Swan, you might want to give Gold a call, now…" Devlin sighed. "He's probably awake… unless of course, you want me to stay a while longer…" He bit his lower lip. "And I'm always ready to oblige."

"Are you trying to be a gentleman now?" Emma turned suddenly with a sneer.

He continued to smile at her. "I'm always a gentleman. Any chance I could actually have that coffee you offered, or am I just going to watch it cool off in your friend's pretty hand?"

Ruby sighed a dumbstruck sigh as Emma took the cup from her hand and approached Devlin, turning to look at her assistant. "Ruby, get started with the paperwork over there… and see if you can manage to shoo that crowd away, it's far too early for this kind of crap."

Devlin laughed softly and shook his heads. "What's the matter love? Scared of a few fans?"

"Listen…" She pressed her lips as she handed him his cup. "I can let you out and walk home through that crowd by yourself, if you wish, or I can keep you in here till you get Gold her or whatever escort you require. No skipping bail." She sipped from her coffee.

His smile disappeared and he sank his lip into the coffee before turning to her again. "You're quite the host. You truly do know how to entertain your guests don't you?"

"It's not a dinner party."

"Pity." He smiled after sipping his coffee. "I make one hell of a devlish dinner party. Unlike some people, I know how to entertain… And if you're a nice lass and get this ridiculous bust over and done with, I might just invite you to one. A private one. My specialty." He bit his lower lip with a smirk.

"Getting paid by a lot of wayward teenagers looking for a thrill ain't my definition of entertainment there, Captain." She smiled sarcastically. "And no thank you. Just because a bunch of crazy pubescent girls swoon because you wear eyeliner and dress like some eighteenth century pirate doesn't mean I'm not gonna keep my eye on you…"

"Oh…" he smiled fully. "I would despair if you did."

"You really do think yourself a charmer, don't you?"

He chuckled. "I make a good time of what's dealt to me, love. I live day by day, and right now, even when I'm in the brig and I have somehow filed yet another lovely sheet to my record, I can say that your company, Sheriff Swan, is by far the best company I've had the privilege of having for years…"

"Oooohhh…" Ruby sighed from her desk with a swoon.

Devlin turned to her and blew a kiss. "Thank you, dear, at least one of you appreciates a compliment…"

One look from Emma, and Ruby snapped out of her trance to continue her work. She then turned back to the rugged rocker. "Well, I hope you're really enjoying it, Captain Hook, because unless Mr. Gold comes to post bail for you, you're in for the rest of the night."

Devlin sighed and looked to the floor. "Well, then best give him a ring, we're booked for a gig tonight, so kindly set me lose."

Emma smiled. "Nope. You don't get to tell me how to do my job, buster."

"Haven't I been held long enough? For bloody debauchery?" He sneered. "Just how many people do you bust for getting a little drunk?"

She huffed. "I think I'll call Gold, I'm not sure I could withstand your black eyeliner for a whole day…"

Just then, Mr. Gold showed up, unannounced, as always. "Good morning sheriff Swan." He spoke in his usual stoic voice.

"Mr. Gold!" She turned, surprised. "I was just… I…"

"Thinking about me, Miss Swan?" He widened his eyes. "Well, aren't I a great asset during a sticky situation!" he turned to Emma, cold and poker faced. "All the same, I've come to post bail for Dev; Has he given you any trouble?"

Devlin sighed and shook his head, looking down. Emma huffed. "Nothing I couldn't handle… just another flirty scumbag hobo…"

"You really do know how to warm the heart of a man, there, Swan…" Devlin huffed from his cell.

"Anyways, let's get this over with." Gold tapped his cane on the floor. "Just how much do I owe you for his behavior?"

"Well, drunkenness and disorderly behavior is usually fifty, but given his record…"

Devlin rolled his eyes and slammed his open palms on the bars. "COME ON! I want out!"

"Three hundred."

Gold nodded and produced a wallet, dropping the cash on her desk. "I take it you can handle taking this payment directly to the Mayor, Sheriff Swan; we're slightly pressed for time. The Jolly Rogers have a gig tonight. Perhaps…" He adjusted his lapel pocket handkerchief. "…you could honor us with a visit? You might enjoy the show."

Devlin silently raised his eyes to Sheriff swan, somewhat expectantly, and Emma shrugged. "I might have a beat duty. Besides, I actually enjoy music as opposed to undiscernible noise."

Gold shrugged. "Suit yourself, Emma. Can you please release my protégé now?"

Emma turned to look at Devlin and found him strangely hurt by her words. She sighed and walked to the cell. He looked visibly disturbed by both her attitude as well as the hangover that had now taken complete hold of him.

As she opened the cell door, she stood to the side and tilted her head sideways. "Right then, Bon Jovi, off you go…"

Devlin stared at her and licked his lips, not flirting, but thinking. As he paced past her, he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at her. "The offer stands, love. If you deem it right, be at the Unicorn Potion Pub tonight, say, at nine?" He looked at her from head to toes and licked his upper lip. "And sexy as this may be, I'm sure you can be, perhaps… a little more creative in your attire?" He walked past her and she huffed through her nose. He turned back to her and bowed a courtesy. "The Captain will be delighted if Lady Swan decides to hop aboard the ship tonight… Alas, if she should not…" he suddenly turned very serious. "Then the Captain will be coming back to the local clink to sing her a song…"

"Right… okay there, matie…" Emma nodded, wide eyed and a contained chuckle right behind her lips. "Fare…thee well, Captain Hook."

He winked at her and then turned to Ruby, touching her chin and delivering a smooth, velvet-tasting kiss on her lips, which she didn't even attempt to fend off. "And I know YOU will be there too, lass…" He smiled and sang his way out of the precinct. "Try to talk your chief in command into accompanying you! Best table up front will be for our guests of honor!"

Gold turned to Emma with a hard, stern grin that was as friendly as a crocodile's. "Well, then, if there is no more business to be done here, I'll be going. I thank you, Miss Swan."

Screaming and shouting was heard from the outside. "Hook! Hoook!"

Emma sighed as she was left with a completely discombubbled Ruby. She played back his invitation in her mind and his sudden seriousness as he promised her one song; he did have a tantalizing personality and, who knew, he might be the world's answer to Led Zeppelin, if, of course, he ever got out of storybrooke..

. She then turned to Ruby again. "Hey!" She hit the desk twice with the tip of her fingers. "Reality check…"

"He … kissed me…" Ruby turned, teary eyed. "Devlin Kragen …. THE Captain Hook…. Kissed me…"

"He's probably kissed half the county!" She shook her head. "Come on, let's get this day done with."

She went over to the jail cell and picked up the remains of his coffee, stopping to touch the opening where his lips had not so long ago imbibed the steaming black beverage. She suddenly felt curious as hell. She turned to Ruby. "What do you think I can wear to a gig like that?"

Ruby shot a surprised stare at her. "What? You… wanna go?"

"Naa." She smiled and reached her own desk. "Just wondering what he meant by a "more creative" attire…"

"Oh!" Ruby smiled and stood up suddenly. "Like this… "

She was known in town for having an especially sensual sense of fashion, with two long extension strands in bright red and a lipstick that matched the rouge color of her perennial hoodie. "Sort of… like this, only glammier."

Emma chuckled. "Glammier?"

Ruby sighed. "But then, you're the sweet kind. Maybe a dress would do." She wrinkled her nose. "Something that shows curves…"

"Yeah, and boobs and ass and legs, I gather…" Emma chuckled and sat down behind her desk.

And for the rest of the day, she silently wondered where she would be able to find such attire her size and pull off a decently sexy look without looking like some teen groupie.


	2. Chapter 2

**Lots of follows after only one hour! I thank you all!**

**Please do comment and review. I love those too! Feedback gives me new ideas! And thanks so much! It seems this ditty has actually expanded into a three (maybe four) chapter tale instead of just two… Can't get enough of that captain gone rock n' roll bad boy! BTW, he actually smokes here, so just warning you there…**

Devlin sat in the dressing room, which was somewhat akin to a cave with little lighting, a hole that looked more like an old busted salad bowl than a toilet, and more than a few spiders scattered along the ceiling. He rolled his eyes around, cigarette lit and smoking as it hung from his lips and held his left ear closer to the pegs of his Fender Telecaster as he tuned it. The dressing room may have been dank, but the house was full, the pay would be good plenty of people were holding their mobiles up to record them, The Jolly Rogers, perform. If they made it to Youtube, that would be IT!

He knew they were good, he and his loyal crew. And these people were like family to him: Especially his drummer and close friend, John "Mr. Smee" Doren. The bass and lead guitarrists were named Lucas Thorne, aka Daggerball and Blake "Deadweight" McKeen, respectively. The whole band took to their monikers in all seriousness; while Devlin couldn't really play his guitar if he attached a hook to his left hand, he certainly enticed the audience regarding his character by dressing in full pirate attire: Black leather all over, eyeliner and tattoos… and a black leather tricorne hat with a blood-red feather which he would eventually shed and toss at a particular girl in the audience… the one who would very likely wind up in the "Captain's Quarters", getting some quality "pirate time".

He chuckled as he held his guitar up. "Done."

Mr. Smee tightened the tuner on his snare drum. "You got the set list, Cap'n?"

Devlin closed his eyes and grinned. "I got it…" he reached down into his crotch and pulled out the wrinkled paper from his groin. "…right here, mate."

Mr. Smee sneered. "You disgusting filth…"

Dagerball and Deadweight McKeen laughed together with their Captain. "Not at all, mate… just thought tonight's show needed some extra balls, that's all…"

That got a steady laugh from all of them.

"So, Dev..." Bassist Daggerball chirped as he lit a cigarette. "…heard Gold had to bail you out this morning… Heard you got arrested again, mate…"

"By… a woman!" Deadweight added as he pulled out a magnificent White Penguin Gretch Guitar from its case. "What's the matter there, Dev? Cat caught your balls?"

"Oh, sounds kinky…" Mr. Smee smiled.

"Got cuffed, mate?" Daggerball asked again. "Was she hot?"

Devlin huffed and removed what was left of his cigarette stub, tossing it with a flick of his fingers at Daggerball, who stood wailing to the bathroom. He then turned to Deadweight with a sarcastic, smirking sneer. "Why, wouldn't you just love to know…?" He turned over to Mr. Smee. "Mate, where's the Alligator now?"

Like magic, Mr. Gold seemed to be standing by the door. "I don't see why you keep naming me like that, Devlin." He spoke coldly as he entered the room, under the heavy gaze of all the band members. "I am, after all, making you a star…"

"I call you that because you are a cold-blooded, two faced bastard with a heart of bloody stone and a greedy, gaping gob!" Devlin stood up and faced him. "You're making us stars, yeh, charming, except we get paid peanuts for it while you get to live in the lap of luxury from what WE make playing gigs!"

"Come now, Devlin…" Gold grinned coldly. "You do owe me that favor…"

"I owe you nothing." Killian sneered. "She died. That was all there was to it. She fucking died…"

"After an agonizingly sad heart disease, Devlin, I know of it." Gold sighed. "But I still paid the massive hospital bill that you couldn't even dream of paying for with your meagerly waged job at the docks. And given the nature of circumstances, I'd say I was more than generous, especially since she was MY WIFE!" He took a step closer to Devlin's face. "You hear me out here, dearie: You want to make it? You will make it. You will be the next best thing since the Rolling Stones. But I'm telling you now: Won't be free. Finish off what you owe me… and then you'll start seeing some decent money rolling in. If you can hold that long or if you don't drown yourself in rum and beer before then, Devlin Kragen…" He left a tight fisted Devlin standing by himself as he paced around the room. "And you lot should really get ready. All is set. House is full, security has rolled in… oh and Dev…'" He turned to look at the handsome vocalist. "Your guests are here… or guest. You'd better see to it that she's left alone; tough crowd out there and the woman's dressed in pink spandex."

Devlin's dour expression softened as The Alligator left the tiny room. He ran his hand through his hair and he huffed. "I swear that man will be the death of me…"

"Or you will be his!" Smee added joyfully.

Daggerball stood and placed a hand on Dev's shoulder. "Go on, mate… you did what you could. There was no way you could have afforded all those bills…"

"She died, anyway; it doesn't fucking matter now… " Devlin huffed as he looked at his friends. "But he could have financed her operation; he just wouldn't. I'd would much rather be in debt for the rest of my life and never make it to LA or anywhere out of this bloody fuck-hole if Milah had had her transplant… if she were here, with me." He looked at his tattoo and ran a hand over it. "My only real fan…"

"And what about "pretty" out there in the pink dress?" Smee did a funny eyebrow dance. "You didn't even know if she'd show up and here she is."

That idea immediately gave Devlin something to smile about. "Oh yeah! She did show up, didn't she?! I wouldn't have believed me in a million years if I'd told myself she'd come!"

"Who is this pink-dressed girl, anyway?" Deadweight exhaled cigarette smoke. "Will she be getting the tricorne and make it to the Cap's quarters this evening?"

They all giggled.

"No…" He shook his head. "But if I'm lucky, I'll wind up in her quarters… again." He winked at his friend.

They all remained silent, until Daggerball broke the silence. "No way…"

With that uncanny cockiness that was enviable, Devlin straightened his head. "I asked two girls over tonight and I reckon one of them would never wear pink. The other, however, did. So… I can assure that it is safe to assume that my guest of honor this evening is none other than this town's very own Sheriff Swan…." He looked into Deadweight's eyes and smiled. "And now you'll be bloody jealous that I got busted by a woman, mate. In regards to your earlier query, the answer is a rotund YES. She IS bloody gorgeous. Mind you don't get a throbber in your pants…" he placed his guitar strap over his shoulder and held his hand out. "All right, mates… Are we ready?"

They all placed their hands on top of Devlin's and after his mark, they all sang in unison: _"Yoho, yoho, a rockstar's life for me! We're players and rockers and ne'er do well cads, drink up me hearties, yo ho, and still we are loved by our moms and our fans, drink up, me hearties, yo ho!"_ After their salute, they strode out of the dressing room and waited for the mark. Five, four, three, two, one…

Lights went out; crowd started yelling, screaming and pushing and Emma had to make sure she was as detached from the mayhem as possible. Who were these guys, Metallica?

"Welcome aboard, me hearties!" Came a voice from the dark. "Get ready to set sail, mates…THERE'S BUMPY SEAS AHEAD!" And the crowd lost it when the sound of an electric guitar chord filled the air.

She knew the accent well and the shadow of a grin ghosted its way to her lips as she saw him, wearing a leather vest and an impeccably white, frilled shirt over black jeans. He paced to the front of the stage and tried to make eye contact with her. As soon as they did, Emma felt a sudden shock going up her spine. Growing up an orphan and being handed over from one foster home to another had toughened her up through life; like many "tough" people, she did enjoy a little rock n' roll and had lied through her teeth when she had stated that she didn't enjoy "undiscernible noise". She had to get the guy under control somehow, right? All the same, it was inevitable to feel his own electric energy flood her own as he plunged into the first song of their set.

As soon as he zeroed on her, Devlin smiled ,still singing into his microphone. He sang quite well too. He continuously sent a prying eye over at Emma who looked mesmerized. While she wasn't there as a groupie or anything even remotely close to it, she had to admit that The Jolly Rogers were indeed pretty good… and the Captain was one heck of a front man! He had uncanny sex appeal that was easy to see even as a local drunk. He looked every bit the pirate AND the Rock Star and was actually incredibly talented as a performer.

Suffice to say, Emma had a good time watching their show. Too good for her own comfort.

Halfway through the show, he stopped and spoke to the crowd. "Cheers, mates, the lot of you, you're all a great crowd and the most dastardly ravishing crew any handsome-faced, hot blooded buccaneer Captain could ever ask for!" More cheers. "As you know…" He started to speak and the crowd softened. "… us pirates, we sail the world's oceans… and during nights of solitude, we sit atop the deck and are guided by the stars… beautiful aren't they? The stars in the sky… But we do get lonely… A pirate's life is the sea, but sometimes, we long and yearn for a little light." He turned to Emma. "And as luck would have it, a wanderlust star somehow found itself on board our ship this night." he held his hand out and the spotlight shone on her. She looked stunning, a little less rock and roll than the rest of the crowd in her pink spandex outfit that favored her very blessed, curved lines, her hair in cascades of gold framing her face. The crowd of rockers whistled, cheered and some did shout profanities at her, unaware that she was actually the town's sheriff. Not that she gave a damn; she'd lived through far more intense situations and heard far worse. She shocked herself by reaching out for his hand. He crouched on the floor beside her and continued speaking into the microphone he held in his other hand. "I became her prisoner… I put up no fight…." He smiled. The Captain then stood back up, with a satisfied, knowing grin, and placed the mic back on its stand. "Therefore and in view of the fact that stars in the sky don't often grace pirates with their beauty, I would hence like to dedicate this next song to this particular one… who graced my ship and me crew this night!" He turned his face to her and smiled a million dollar smile. "Darling Swan… this one's for you."

And… wink. Again.

She laughed and nodded as she found a way to sit back down, resisting the teenage urge to jump around his neck and kiss him hard. She thought about mass hysteria and attributed her sudden desire to the psychological effects of crowd insanity as she sat back down.

As they launched into a ballad (about stars, of course), she tried to reason with herself. Why was she even there? Henry was with his adoptive mom who, by the way, was very harshly disputing his custody against her, and if she found out that her boy's bio mom was fooling around with some pirate-clad rock star, she'd have every element in her hand to contend full custody and maybe even get a restricting order against her. She only hoped that no one she knew would have seen her holding his hand. Gold probably had, but then again, Gold was somewhat of a dark and mysterious ally against Regina, so she wasn't worried. All the same, she wondered and checked the nearest emergency exits in case the occasion required her to sprint like hell.

As the show wound down, so did Emma's resilience to the night life. The Jolly Rogers and their crazy Captain Hook finished their set with a bang that included the captain suddenly removing his shirt and throwing it into the crowd, where a melee of people tore it to shreds in seconds. It was fun for Emma to see Storybrooke's younger generation blowing off a little steam, American style.

But she was still pretty sure he had to be from England. No American could wield such a cool accent for as long as he did.

After the show, Emma gathered her things and went outside before anyone could even begin to look at her and identify her as the Sheriff. She was lucky Devlin hadn't said her name, but then he did look like a smart guy who obviously knew Rock N' Roll is not necessarily a cop's best friend, and vice versa. She rapidly threw her jacket into the back of her yellow VW Beetle and ran to the wheel like she was on some sort of emergency duty. She sped away in time to see a somewhat stunned and confused (and delightfully shirtless) Devlin Kragen push past the crowds in pursuit of her, stopping only when she was at a safe enough distance. She saw him from her rearview mirror, his brow furrowed and saddened as she drove away. The thought that it was very likely that she would never see him again made her sort of… sad.

She sort of felt then and there like there was something else… almost as if this hadn't been the first time she had ever run from someone.

As she pulled over at Granny's, she leaned into the back of her head rest and huffed. "Ok, that was exhilarating!" She huffed, and left the car for a cup of tea, or a hot double cappuccino with heaps of cinnamon.

One look at her and Ruby's eyebrows reached the ceiling. "Well well…" She chuckled. "Rock n' Roll night?"

"Don't know what the hell got into me…" She shook her head and sat by the bar. "And where the hell were you? I thought you were going to go with me."

Ruby shrugged. "Well, we didn't really agree on anything and besides, "she pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes. "Granny got on my case again. No problem. I got a kiss from him!" Emma nodded and huffed and leaned both arms on the bar before hiding her face into them. Ruby frowned. "Wow… are you ok? What happened?"

After three seconds, Emma looked up into Ruby's eyes. "I was going to ask for coffee, but… given my state, I think some vodka on the rocks will suit me better."

Ruby sighed. "Ok, coming right up."

As the young girl left to fix her drink, Emma looked at her own hands; she was haunted by his eyes' very particular shade of blue… like a deep, deep ocean. "Ugh, get a grip…" She whispered to herself before heading to a table to wait for her drink. She then went on to text her roommate who was so frail and delicate she'd probably have a heart attack if she knew Emma had gone to a hard rock show. While she did, she could hear people coming in and out of the restaurant, bells clinging as they opened the door to the diner.

"You exuded like a bat out of hell!"

That accent… again…

She shot her eyes up to see a still dashing Devlin in his rock and roll getup, and as much as she hated to admit it, she felt weak in the knees.

She sneered at him. "Wait… did you just… follow me?"

"That, I did." He sighed and sat, uninvited but perfectly welcome. "I was rather hoping I could pitch for that drink after the show, but you flew out of there like your life depended on it." He clasped his hands together. "And given that the lads and I had only just performed our best ballad just for you, I think it was rather unpleasant on your part to leave without saying as much as a little "thank you", there, Swan."

She chuckled. "I don't owe it to you, buddy."

"The name is Devlin, and what is it with you and your attitude?" he grinned. "I'm not such a bad person, you know…"

"You were in jail this morning!"

"Aye… and it's been the best morning I've had in years!" He grinned.

Ruby delivered Emma's drink. "Here…" she placed it on the table and turned… did a double take… and gasped again. "Oh god! Oh, my god!"

Devlin ran his eyes down Ruby's body and stopped for a little while longer around her legs, grinning and biting his tongue, before looking back up to her face. "Hello again, darling!"

"Oh brother…." Emma huffed and shook her head while Ruby went on and on about how much she adored his music and how she hadn't shown up because of work and how she wished she had his talents and how lucky his girlfriend must be. At that last part, Devlin's smile faded and Emma's interest was slightly peaked. She had always been good at understanding people, but this guy was intriguing. While he did have some of that sass he had displayed earlier, he was far more atoned now. Must have been the booze.

"RUBY!" Came Granny's voice from the back of the diner. "Get to work and stop flirting with the customers!"

The beautiful young woman rolled her eyes and shot eye-daggers over at her grandmother. "I am NOT flirting, Granny! This is Captain Hook!"

"Oh, that lout on the poster on your wall? All the more! Just serve him and get over here!"

"I'll have what she's having…" He whispered at her. "…and pay no mind. Old timers don't get it." He winked at her and she was nearly undone as she walked away to get his drink.

"So…" He turned back at Emma with a grin. "Let me guess; you are plotting to say you left swiftly since you must be up early, because you are… one very responsible sheriff, and that, of course, implies you don't want to be seen prancing with anyone the likes of… well, me." She remained silent, staring into his eyes, not so much because she had no answer, but rather because she knew that if she spoke back, this could eventually turn into a decent talk, and that scared the life out of her. He chuckled. "Oh, no answer? Well, most men would take your silence as off-putting, but…" he raised his eyebrow. "I love a challenge."

"I'm not challenging you."

"Of course not, Swan; you are something of an open book."

"Am I?"

"Oh aye, quite indeed." He furrowed his brow and spoke softly. "Say, you are very responsible of your day job and want to be seen as clean cut sheriff of this town, because you have an appearance to maintain… someone to impress, to keep a clean slate… I'd say, you're fighting for someone you love, though I don't see any of the typical evidence of an infatuated woman besotted by romantic love, so I can safely assume… you yearn for a child. Your child. You are in a custody battle, or something of a similar nature."

Emma stared at him wide-eyed. She thought that her ability to see through a person was hers and hers alone; either that, or Gold had blabbed to his protégé. "How the hell…?"

"Told you…" He leaned back on the seat. "Open book." Just then Ruby brought his drink and he stopped her. "Cheers, darling… you think you could bring the bottle over?"

With a sigh, Ruby looked to make sure Granny was in the back, before speaking. "Only if you sign your autograph on me."

"My pleasure…" He smiled and produced a sharpie pen out of nowhere. "So, where do you want it?"

"Right here!" Ruby grinned, showing the fleshier upper part of her left breast. "Just do it quick, before she comes back and takes the shotgun out on you…"

"Point taken, lass..." he stood up and haphazardly signed his name on her breast before Emma's shocked stare. "There you go." He grinned and placed the sharpie back in his pocket.

Ruby took one quick look and suddenly grabbed Devlin by his coat lapel, gave him a huge, smacking kiss and ran back. Devlin looked pleased but far from surprised as he sat back down. "Ah, where were we? Oh yes… open… book."

Emma sneered and huffed. "Really? You make a living this way?"

He held both hands up in the air. "It's all part of the job. I can't help it if women find me irresistible, love."

She saw another tattoo over his left arm: A massive hook that reached his wrist. "So, that's so you don't have to chop your hand off?"

"Rather." He smiled as he looked at it. "Suits me name, don't you think?"

"You are definitely not from around here." She shook her head. "Come on, fess up: Where are you from? London? Liverpool? Australia? What!?"

He chuckled. "None, dear. Like I said, I am from Storybrooke, like everyone else… except you. So if anyone is a stranger here, it's you. Go on…" He leaned his arms on the table. "Just where did you hail from, Swan?"

"Boston." Shit. Had she just answered him? Why would she do that?

"I see…" he leaned back. "You must realize not many come to Storybrooke… in fact, I don't recall ever seeing any new faces here… or seeing any OLD faces depart, either." He bit his lower lip. "I'll leave one day…"

"I would have thought you'd take your little pirate combo to LA, or New York. Get a record deal. "

He grinned. "Are we that good, Swan?"

She huffed and felt an unavoidable grin line her lips. "It wasn't too bad…"

"Ah…" he smiled fully and once again, her knees rattled. "So I take it that that "undiscernible noise" you so loathe is actually more pleasant to your ears than what pride will allow you to admit, then."

"You were in jail, Devlin. I wasn't supposed to fraternize."

"Well, I'm not in jail now, so…"

"YOU WASH THAT DAMN THING OFF!" Came shouting from the kitchen. Both Devlin and Emma turned sharp looks over in the direction of the mayhem and found Granny stampeding out of the kitchen and through the diner in their direction… in his. "All right there, buddy, did you sign your name on my granddaughter's breast?"

"Granny!" Came ruby's plea from the kitchen. "I asked for it! Leave him alone!"

Devlin stood up with a charming but profoundly cynical grin. "Well, love, no need to be jealous… Should I sign yours? I mean, parchment is parchment, even saggy and wrinkled… I'll sign."

Emma gasped. Ruby gasped. Granny gasped… and slapped him hard.

"Bloody hell..." he huffed under his breath as he touched his lip.

"How dare you!" The old woman shouted at him. "You no-good lout! Get the hell out if my diner!"

He looked at the woman from under his brow and huffed. "Fine." He gnarled through his teeth. " Not half enough action around here, anyway…" He turned to look at Emma, who now seemed more shocked and surprised than upset, and he stormed out.

"Grimy bastard…" Granny shook her head and headed back to the kitchen. "Now about you, young lady! You scrub that thing off or I'll do it for you with oven cleaner!"

Emma looked in the direction he had left. Finally, he was out of her hair. Finally. Good thing!

So she stood up and hated her legs for taking her in the direction he had just left. "Devlin!" She shouted, finding him as he saddled himself on his motorbike.

He looked at her and then looked down. "Swan…"

"Where are you going?" she shook her head.

"Home." He grinned at her. "I only wanted a drink with you and all I got was a runaway date and a brash old lady smacking me right in the clock. Not my idea of a pleasant evening."

"I can see that… Look…" she huffed. "You're right. You were right back inside. I have a son. He's eleven and… well…"

Helmet in his hands, he raised an eyebrow at her, expectantly. "Well?"

"Well, let's just say it's not your everyday custody battle."

Devlin chuckled. "The father must be quite a proper prick, I reckon…"

"The father?" She frowned, confused. "Oh, no, he's long gone; he doesn't even know he had a son."

Devlin stared at her, confused. "I'm afraid I don't follow then, Sheriff… Who else would you be battling for custody of your boy against, if not the father?"

Emma was usually never this open, not to anyone, ever. But he had certain… something that somehow elicited her every thought to the very tip of her tongue. All the more, he seemed to relish on it. While he maintained his pose and attitude, the jerk she had busted earlier on was nowhere in sight.

"I gave him up…" she sighed. "I had a son… in prison. You were right about me… on all accounts. I do have a record. I hijacked cars and robbed empty houses when I was young. I fell in love, stupidly. He set me up, I took the fall, got busted and… had my baby in jail. I was only eighteen, I couldn't be a mother, not one that would make a decent life for a child, anyway so…." her eyes welled up. "I gave him up for adoption. It was a few months ago when he sort of ran away from home and came knocking at my door." She smiled. "I swear, that night? It was my birthday and… I had wished that for once, I wouldn't have to spend it by myself…"

Great… she had just spilled the beans of her deepest secret to practically a stranger. And she felt ok with it. Something was definitely weird here.

"And…" he nodded. "Someone in Storybrooke took the boy in. I see now…" He smiled. "You have a good story there… But why is the custody tough? The boy obviously loves you, since he looked for you… and found you."

Emma swallowed. "He was adopted by Regina Mills."

His smile evaporated and his eyes widened. "The mayor?" He whistled in shock. "You're right. She's tougher than a bag of cats, that one. She's got it in for me, most of the times Sheriff Graham arrested me was at her bidding."

"Yeah, you do seem like the sort of guy who would get under her skin." She sighed.

They both remained in silence, until he broke it, speaking nothing like he had seconds ago. His voice was husky and understanding. "Well, you've done nothing wrong, love. You just happened to do your job and then went to blow off some steam, is all." He nodded. "We all deserve to, every now and then."

She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"So, should I give you a ride?" He grinned quietly.

How she wanted to get on the back of that Harley and speed off into the night with him! But the reality of maybe losing Henry was something she could not risk. "No, I have… That's my car." She tilted her head to the VW Beetle parked one block ahead.

He looked at it and sighed. "Well, that's quite the vessel you captain there, Swan. Per chance, I'll see you again when the dust around you settles; last thing you need right now is Regina Mills finding out you're sharing shots with… a pirate, such as I." He side-grinned sadly as he put his helmet on. "All the same, I still believe that doing jail time with you as my jailor has been by far the most exciting part of my life. If ever you wish to see me again, all you have to do is ask Mr. Gold… or follow the fliers on Main. Till then, I bid you a good evening… Lady Swan."

He sped off into the night and Emma followed the red back light with her eyes until it disappeared around the curve… and hated not having even had as much as a peck on her cheek. She sighed and grinned softly. "Per chance…" She chuckled. "Jesus, why the hell do you talk like that?"

She turned and went to her car and drove home. It was late and Mary Margaret was already snoring ever so softly in her bed. Emma was grateful; she really didn't want to be giving any explanations, let alone let anyone know she had just had a date with a Pirate Rock Star.

And as she lay in her bed, the thought of that alone made her grin. "Per chance, captain…" she whispered before turning off her light and setting off the sail to her dreams.

Devlin parked his bike at the docks and unsaddled; he paced to the very edge of the pier and shoved his hands into his pockets, listening to the sound of the water as it gently hit the concrete below his feet. The ships bobbed silently and a mild drizzle started to dampen the air. He sighed and a long line of steam left his mouth and nose. He remembered his earlier days with Milah, before she had become ill… How she encouraged him, how she was there, at every show, how she helped him with song lyrics and… how her own husband had refused to pay for her operation, knowing she was going to die if she didn't have it.

Paying the hospital bills had been Gold's way of overpowering the rock n' roll runt that had attempted to take his precious wife away: He had traded his kindness for his services as manager, where he had full control of Devlin's schedules and income. By any standard, he should have at least a decent house by now. But being owned by Gold made things harsh; he squatted in an old abandoned ship, much like a real pirate, while Gold cashed in on what he earned from gigs and sales.

A tear ran down his eye as he wondered what it would be like if Milah were there. He remembered how life had left her eyes that dreadful evening, when her shriveled heart had finally let up. How in his arms she grew heavy and turned to ice. Her final words? "I love you." It still ached in his heart.

He looked at the tattoo in his forearm and touched it gently with his left hand fingers. As soon as his debts with Gold were paid, he'd get the hell out of Storybrooke and make his band a major world act. And once there, he'd be sure to economically squash Mr. Gold's little local empire to the ground, pulverize him, turn him into that distasteful, cowardly husband Milah had sought refuge from in his own arms.

Per chance… he'd take the Sheriff and her son with him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three!**

**Lots of new followers and favorites! Thank you all! I'm glad you're all enjoying this story. I hope you feel a little bit intrigued, because the story seems to be growing, hee hee. I watched ouat last night and absolutely HATED that evil green Zelena, didn't you? Anyway I will be doing part 4 tonight so you lot can read it tomorrow night, no problem **

**And please do comment if you have anything to say **

It had become a ritual; every morning, at eight, Emma would sweep past Granny's for her morning Latte which she could not do without. She'd sit for five to ten minutes, keeping an eye on Mary Margaret who seemed to believe she fooled the world by casually being in the diner at around the same hour as David Nolan, a married guy whom she had a major crush on and simply didn't seem to be able to do without. Emma would chuckle, leave a few pennies at the bar for a tip, then walk the two block distance to the newsagents. She'd buy the newspaper of the day, say hello to the nice old lady who sold them, then continue walking through the chilly, drizzly town of Storybrooke, smiling and nodding to the commonly sound of "G'morning, Sheriff!". She'd reach for her keys in her back pocket and open the main entrance to the precinct, let herself in, place her hot brew on the desk and hang her scarf on the wall hanger by the door to the cells.

She'd then settle to sort out paperwork…. Or rather, pretend to be sorting out paperwork, if for her own amusement only. Not much ever happened in Storybrooke; not since Graham had passed, leaving her in charge. Sure, you did get the occasional mine exploding, or the random wolf that shouldn't be there at all… but hey, weird shit happens everywhere, she'd reason, and she'd just get on with it.

That morning was a little bit different.

"There you are!" Came the happy, chirpy voice from the door.

Emma turned sharply and wide eyed at the sound of her son's voice. "Henry!" She smiled and reached out for him. "What are you doing here? Regina will eat my liver if she finds out you're here!"

"She can't touch you… you're the savior!" He affirmed, clenching his ever-present story book to his chest. "No one can beat the savior, not even the Evil Queen…"

Emma frowned and sighed. "Seriously, kid, you have to stop saying those things, people could get really hurt, you know that?"

Henry looked stung. "But… I thought you said you believed me!"

Remembering the words of Archie, the therapist, who had warned her against going against her son's fantasies, Emma sighed and placed two strands of hair behind her ears. "I do, kid, I do, but you might want to stop labeling people, I mean, if they don't remember who they are, how do you suppose it would make them feel if you told them that they are, say… a dragon?"

"Oh that was Maleficent… and nobody knows where she is." He nodded with a grin.

"Maleficent… fine." She huffed patiently and stood up. "Listen, I'm gonna get you to school, things are tough enough as they are, with your mom not wanting us to hang out…"

"School? Emma, school is completely irrelevant when there's a town to save! Look!" He opened his book and flipped through the pages. "We're gonna get swarmed by pirates!"

"Pirates…" Emma grinned and looked at the pages of her son's book. "Like, buccaneer, swashbuckling, eye-patched and wooden-legged pirates?"

"The very kind."

Emma chuckled. "And just where will these… 'pirates' be coming from?"

"The sea, Emma…" He rolled his eyes. "I'm eleven and even I know that."

"Ok, all right!" She laughed. "When can we expect the dastardly visitation?"

He nodded. "Very soon. We might have to find and recruit our very own pirate."

"Ah, so we have a pirate in town too, I see…" She sat back down. "And who is he?"

Henry shook his head. "I don't know yet. Storybrooke has thousands of characters scattered around. But I do know you have to be looking for someone with a hook for hand…"

Emma frowned and felt ever so slightly breathless. "A hook?"

"Yeah. Our pirate is Captain Hook." He wrinkled his nose. "He's not your usual Disney character with a perm, Emma…. Says here that he is in fact… mmhh…" he looked through the pages. "Ah! Here, it says, '_Hook was young, ravishing, charming and the finest gentleman the world of piracy had ever seen, the handsomest and most desired bachelor in all the seven seas; all who knew him and befriended him spoke of the man as a delightful story teller, a player, a cad, a drinker with a taste for rum and dice games and a ladies man who needed only but to smile to have the world at his feet; he was also the most ruthless, cutthroat pirate of all the realms and the very mention of his name elicited fear in the eyes of those who had crossed him wrongly, for in his heart he bore an unhealed scar, a scar of a love ripped from his yearning hands. He searched for revenge and was not one to stop until it was found and his thirst for the blood, lost by the death of his love, was sated; all and any who came in his way, were guaranteed to die a most horrible death at the walk of the plank of his ship, the Jolly Roger, or gutted by the sharpened curve of the hook he used after the loss of his left han. He was loved by many… but feared by all._'" Henry looked up at Emma. "Who do you think would fit the mold, Emma?"

It was an ironic coincidence; it had to be. Even if the one character she had in mind would probably not go as far as gutting someone.

"I don't know, kid." She smiled. "It'll take some time for us to figure it out. How long do we have before we get swarmed? And who will be the bad boy taking over the town?"

"Oh, it says here…." He flicked through pages again. "There it is… Long John Silver."

"Treasure Island's Long John Silver?" She raised a brow. "Great. What treasure could he be looking for?"

"You." He nodded with a grin.

Emma laughed aloud. "OK, me… why me?"

"Because… you're the savior. And in his mind, the savior is a threat. You represent all that is good in people, Emma. Bad people fear you. But if we can get Captain Hook on our side…"

"Listen, kid, I don't mean to burst your bubble here, but where on earth are we supposed to find this Captain Hook?"

"Look." He pointed at an illustration. "He should kind of look like this…"

Emma really didn't believe any of the stuff Henry told her regarding his Fairy Tale delusions; but this time she was eerily surprised. The Pirate Captain in the illustration was depicted in a sword-to-sword lock with Long John Silver. He was dressed in glorious black, had short, black hair, messy and unevenly cropped, tall boots and a long, black leather raincoat… and he looked every bit like Devlin Kragen. She was unable to keep the surprise from showing all over her face.

"You know him!" Henry smiled. "Great! We need to make him our ally!"

Emma shook her head and sighed deep, regaining her cool. "Ok, sure, we'll do just that, but for now, sir, you get your ass to school before your mom… turns me into a toad or something…"

"A toad?" Henry raised one eyebrow and chuckled. "You'd be lucky. Just be sure you don't wind up eating anything of hers. Especially her apples. You know how the story goes." He grabbed his book and placed it under his arm. "I'll see if I can sneak out again after school, ok?"

"Henry!" She stopped him. "Do you think I could… borrow… that book for a few hours?"

The little boy smiled from ear to ear. "Sure. You need to study your strategy. I totally get it!" And after once again placing the book on the desk, he was gone.

This was a lot more entertaining than paperwork.

Emma had seen a few really strange things happen in Storybrooke; shortly before Graham's death, he had rambled about the wolf in town… and she hadn't believed him until she saw it. Then there was the whole thing about people having weird accidents when trying to cross the town line; the uncanny dejavu, the clock that hadn't started ticking until she had come into town… But from there to saying that everyone in town was a Fairy Tale character? That Mary Margaret, her roommate, was her mom? And that she was some sort of Savior with enough internal energy to put Yoda to shame? That was another story.

But then, he did look uncannily like Devlin. She read the text. "_In defense of his new love, Killian 'Hook' Jones was even fiercer than his own nature. Fueled by love, he was capable of moving the world, and only the words uttered by his princess would sate him and settle him. He was hers, entirely…" _ She looked up and grinned. "Killian… what a beautiful name…"

A tapping on the door caught her attention, pulling her away from the fairy tale fantasy; she walked over and was stunned to find the local grouch, Leroy, carrying a massive bouquet of white and mauve lilies.

"What the hell is this?" She sneered.

"They're yours, sister…" he growled. "I just picked them up from the Florist's. They're damn heavy, can I come in?"

"Well, yeah…" She stood aside and stared in utter shock as the bearded Leroy made his way into the office and left, huffing and growling, as soon as he had placed them on her desk.

Emma frowned as she stepped closer to the massive floral bouquet. They were beyond beautiful and for a woman who had never gotten flowers from anyone, it was indeed a nice surprise. A grin traced her lips as she picked up the tiny card attached, and read it:

"_To the brightest star in all of Storybrooke: I miss you, Swan. You have become the leading muse to my new song and I would be honored if you would come to hear it played live for the first time, this Friday night, at The Rabbit Hole. You'll find a ticket attached. Hope and pray you'll come. Yours in Piracy and debauchery, Dev., aka, Hook."_

Emma licked her upper lip and giggled. _Yours in piracy and debauchery_, he had said.

Maybe she could have settled for 'yours', only.

She shook the ludicrous thought and placed the flowers on the opposite desk, thinking it would give Ruby one hell of a thrill to hear the newest development. Maybe Ruby could give her an idea what to wear to the gig on Friday again.

…

Daggerball and Deadweight McKeen were boozing it up while Smee cleaned up the floor of the rehearsal room. They were pretty used to their vocalist being late for rehearsals, but this time he had flat out not shown at all. Somethimes they referred to him and Devlin Diva; he certainly could act like one. But all the same, he was still their Captain and they knew their band didn't stand a chance without his talent and, why not, his entire appearance, which seemed to make the girls want him and the guys to BE like him. He had a swagger that was fairly unique and the way he wore eyeliner made more than one woman jealous, mainly because it looked better on him than it did on most girls. So they usually put up with his BS, only this time it had taken a mile too far off a leg.

He eventually did show his face; but he looked like he had been dragged across a field of rocks. He was not even dressed in anything that looked remotely like his vamped, captain Hook style, but wore a plain purple t-shirt and jens and had the appearance of one who has spent a night crying.

The lads didn't dare ask… but Smee was pretty bold. "Aye Cap'n, what the hell happened to you? You look a wreck!"

Devlin turned two sad blue eyes to him. "Never mind, Smee…" He reached for his guitar and strapped it over his shoulder. "Let's just get this over and done with…"

"Dev… for fuck's sake!" Smee insisted. "We've been here for like three hours waiting for you and you come in and act like the world owes you something?"

"The world does owe me, Smee…" He fixed his hair with both hands, guitar pick in his teeth. "Now, question me once more… and face the consequences."

That was usually all it took to remind the lads who the leader was.

They plunged through the rehearsal, but Devlin found it hard to focus. He was out of tune more than once, busted a string and forgot more than one lyric. He was just not ship shape this evening and after only one hour he ended the misery early by dumping the guitar on the floor and unceremoniously leaving with a mere "Can't do this… see you tomorrow, lads…"

He left the rehearsal room at the back of the dock and walked through the streets, hands in his pockets. He stopped to light a cigarette and continued pacing from the docks and into the town center. He managed to find his way to a bar and paid for a whole bottle of rum, which he miserably began to swig back until he was, once again, absolutely legless. Only now he refused to be jailed by Emma; he never again wanted to have her see him in such dreadful shape.

He continued his pacing through alleys and streets, singing his own hits under the shelter of the dark, until he was stopped by meager figure with a walking stick.

"You should be rehearsing now, Kragen…" Came Gold's chilled voice.

Devlin chuckled and closed his eyes before turning his face to his manager. "You really are a heartless prick, you know that, mate?"

"Heartless is what one becomes when one's heart gets ripped out of his chest, Devlin." He walked to the drunken guitarist. "I suppose we share that particular emotion. However…" He stood face to face with the handsome rocker. "I don't go about it sulking like a beggar on the streets about things that went on in my past."

"Of course not." Devlin grinned sarcastically. "Because your shit don't stink mate, does it? Why, you have the very power to make the life of a woman, a bright, beautiful, smart and charming woman, a living hell, till she seeks refuge in another man's love, and when she does… you let her perish." He chuckled. "Your feet don't touch the bloody ground…"

"That may be, Devlin…" Gold grinned. "But the fact of the matter is, I did wind up paying for her hospital bills while she was already living with you. It should not have been my task, but yet, I had a little bit of hope… But then, she looks at you, touches your dirty face and says, "I love you…" ever so softly…. Well…" He shrugged. "A man can snap. So, I refused to pay any further…" he stood face to face with Devlin. "Why, on top of being made a fool of, I was going to finance your affair with MY wife? I was to see her live to love you instead of the man she married? WE HAD A SON, Kragen, and you broke up our family for your own selfish relishment!" He paced around. "I find it more than fitting that you should pay your debts to me for as long as I consider it…" he flicked his fingers upward. "…well, appropriate. You and your band… you are making quite a bit of progress. But you know you'll never get out of Storybrooke…"

Devlin began to break; his lower lip quivered and he closed his eyes before they started to well up. He spoke in a shaky voice. "Not even … for the memory of the love you ONCE had with her… are you willing to let me be this night?"

Mr. Gold chuckled. "The night that marks a year of her passing? Why, I should be celebrating, friend! I will leave the moping to you, you seem to have that covered."

"Son of a bitch…" Devlin hissed as he tried to jump to Mr. Gold's neck. But small as he may have been, Mr. Gold packed quite a punch and seemed to knock Devlin back, sending him crashing into a pile of empty boxes. He then placed his cane on Devlin's throat while the young musician gritted his teeth. "Now pay attention: You will now go to Granny's get a cup of coffee and then go to your rehearsals… we have a good gig booked at the Rabbit Hole this riday and your lovely sheriff will be attending…"

"Emma?" Devlin frowned. "But I haven't…"

"Of course you haven't you bumbling fool… I have. She received some lovely lilies this morning, sent by YOU. And you WILL say you sent them. You will see to her every move up close, Killian Jones…"

Devlin sneered. "Wha… who the Fuck is Killian Jones, mate?"

Mr. Gold Hesitated. "Never mind that. You will be close to her, and tell me of her every move. I want to keep an eye on that one."

Devlin laughed. "And you think I will be your personal spy, do you? My debt to you is monetary, mate."

"You will do this…" Gold hissed back. "Or you will not even want to play music any more…"

He removed the cane from Devlin's throat and stood straight. "Now… off you go. The lads are still there."

Devlin had damn near sobered up entirely. He stood and staggered as he tried to find his footing. "One day…" He moaned as he rubbed his neck. "One day I will be able to look you in the eye… and finish you, alligator." He whined. "Mark well what I did say now…"

"I quiver…" Gold smiled cynically. "Now, go…"

Devlin could have sworn the man nearly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He reached into his pocket and produced his mobile, looking for a photograph of he and Milah in his little house boat. Humble… old… but happier than he'd ever been. She smiled in the photograph, her hair long and brown and dangling like a sail by her breasts.

He sighed hard, kissed the photograph and turned his dour blue eyed stare to the road ahead. He joined the band once more, but only to drink more and more, until he was unconscious.

He slept in the rehearsal room that night, hating his luck and hating his new assignment. He liked Emma, he really did. She was probably the only breath of fresh air he had had in the last year… or ever. And as the rum finally took a complete hold of his consciousness, four words left his lips: "I won't do it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four !**

**This chapter was a HELL of a lot of fun to write. And, it's pretty instrumental to the rest of the story.**

**I appreciate the comments and the likes and follows! You all make a new girl feel right at home! I think I might just continue writing fiction about the dear ol captain of the Jolly Roger and his Swan Lady… I Ship 'em hard, you may have noticed, lol.**

**Enjoy!**

"Are you out of your mind?" Mary Margaret whined while Emma stood before the mirror, comparing one dress next to the other. "I don't wanna rain on your parade, Emma, but Regina's got eyes all over town! She's made your life miserable so far, what do you think she'll do if she finds out you're some sort of… groupie?"

"I'm not a groupie…" Emma sighed. "Just a girl going on a date with a guy who HAPPENS to be a rock star."

"Yeah!" her roomie nodded with a wide-eyed smiled. "That's usually the definition of 'groupie'."

Emma rolled her eyes to her friend. She knew that Mary Margaret had some sort of point there; but she had lived through enough crap in her life to learn that the best way to allow a bully to get away with his or her plans was… well, to let them get away with their plans. Refusing to go out on a Friday night after such a kind invitation was just not right. Ok, given, the date was not the everyday, guy-in-a-suit kind of date and was a rather unconventional kind of guy. And he drank a lot. And she had found a joint in his wallet. And he wore makeup. Had loads of girl fans… And probably had tattoos even where the sun didn't shine… But he had a certain something that she could not quite pinpoint: Almost like a connection of sorts. In a single minute he had figured out the entire reason she had left Boston for a small town like Storybrooke.

"It's just a rock n' roll show, Mary Margaret. I've been to plenty before." She smiled. "Now which dress do you think he'll like better? Black or red?"

"Ugh!" mary Margaret raised both hands and turned in her axis before looking back at emma. "Are you even listening to yourself, Emma? Which dress 'he' will like better? Come on!"

"Ok, look!" Emma turned sharply. "I know you mean well and I know you have this whole… mumsy, motherly, pre-school teacher thing nailed to a tee, and I appreciate the whole thing about you letting me crash at you pad when Regina sent the wolves out on me, but seriously, You're over-reacting!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! I don't think going out with a guy on a Friday night is something that would stop the clocks around the world, for god's sake!" She huffed. "Now I don't know about you, Mary Margaret, but it's been a year since I… well, since…"

The pixie-haired beauty shook her head and pulled a stool from under the kitchen counter, sitting down to look at her friend. "There are more important things than… well, sex, Emma." She looked positively self-assured. "Like Henry. You do know that Regina has a thing against that particular guy…. Why are you testing the water when you know it's boiling hot?"

Emma smiled and turned back to trying out the dresses. "Well, it's not like I'm eloping with the guy!"

Mary Margaret sighed and bit her lower lip. "I do admit he is a bit of a dish…" she grinned. "I just don't think I'd be capable of just… fishing out a rock star and…" she scratched the back of her head. "…getting laid."

Emma turned completely to Mary Margaret. "And why are you so sure I'm getting laid tonight? I am not stupid enough to go to his place, wherever that is, I certainly can't bring him home and god knows the only hotel here is Granny's B&B which, by the way, I was shunned from by Regina's strings, so, honestly? I find it difficult that that would actually happen."

"He's a rocker; He's got a rehearsal room, for sure…"

"Look, I really don't think it'll go that far. I'm aware that Regina's got her eyes on me but I'm sure that going out to a show during a weekend night isn't against any law. And as long as I don't start using drugs, I'm pretty sure I'll be ok." She held both dresses up. "Now, again: Red or black?"

Mary Margaret looked at both dresses and sighed. "Red."

"I thought so…" Emma smiled as she removed her t-shirt and slipped into the red outfit. "Ok. Not too slutty, not too office-girly…"

"I still think you're out of your mind…" Mary Margaret sighed as she stood up and walked upstairs to her bed. "I really hope you don't regret this, Emma."

"He's not such a bad guy. You of all people should know there's always something good in everyone."

"Maybe." Her friend stopped and grinned. "I just pray that he shows that before Regina gets the drift and you never see Hen…"

The knocking on the door interrupted her line and Emma made a beeline to the door. She opened it and found a tall, dashing blonde figure with a somewhat sheepish demeanor. "Hi! Emma!" he eyed her up and down. "Well… you look… amazing!"

Mary Margaret flew back down the stairs at the sound of his voice.

"Thanks David." Emma grinned. From the corner of her eye she could see Mary Margaret shaking her hands adamantly and mimicking a "no" with her lips. "Can I help you?"

"Well…" He shrugged. "I was wondering if Mary Margaret's home…"

"Sure!" Emma smiled and stood aside as Mary Margaret stared daggers through huge round eyes and an open mouth. "Come on in!"

She stepped to the kitchen as David looked at the pretty young brunette, who closed her pink jackie'o sweater tight around her chest and flushed. "Hi… David…"

"Hi…" He smiled, equally flushed.

Emma grinned and rolled her eyes as she reached out for her purse. "Oh well, I'm outta here." She said. "Nice to see you David…" She then approached Mary Margaret's ear and whispered. "Leave a post-it on the door if you decide to do the deed…"

And she giggled her mischievous way down the stairs, leaving a flustered Mary Margaret indoors with the crush of her life. Nice move!

She walked, her high heels making her an inch taller, and she looked for the keys to her bug in her tiny purse. She was interrupted by the sound of a loud engine behind her. She turned to find a headlicght coming closer until it stopped a few yards away. The man climbed off the Harley and walked to her, removing his helmet. "Well, well Swan, aren't you a sight for sore eyes…"

She still didn't quite know what the hell this guy had that kept making her weak at the knees; it wasn't like this was the very first good looker she'd ever met. But something about him got her right in the gut.

She settled for thinking that this evening would be like a field trip to try and understand what exactly Devlin Kragen was made of that rattled the very core of her feels. All for the sake of science. Yeah. Right.

She grinned and walked to him. "What are you doing here?" She grinned. "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready to rock?"

"I am." He nodded with a complacent grin. "But 'should', doesn't always match with 'want', darling."

She frowned. "You're not playing tonight, then?"

"I am. And I will debut that song for you… but…" he held his hand out. "…just for you."

Emma felt an unavoidably powerful smile overtake her lips like they had a life of their own. "What will your band think?"

He huffed and shuffled his foot on the floor. "They know I won't show up." He looked back up to her. "I will explain it all to you, Swan, if you give me the chance to. But not at the Rabbit Hole… not under Gold's watch…"

There was something that spoke of true anger in the way he mentioned Mr. Gold's name. Emma had always been pretty good at telling when a person meant well or not; when there were lies behind the words or when honesty was the playing card. And angry and glammed as his makeup-clad eyes may have been, he was on the level.

"So, where exactly are you taking me?" she grinned as she grabbed his hand and followed him to his motorbike.

"The woods." He huffed. "Don't toil, Swan, I won't abuse your virtues or anything like that." He turned to her with a wink as he reached into his black leather saddlebag for a smaller helmet, handing it to her. "…unless you ask me to."

She chuckled. "Keep your hands to yourself."

"I thought you'd say that." He smiled, as he removed his biker jacket and placed it around her shoulders. "You might want to put that on, Swan, it gets bloody cold when riding."

She noticed he was wearing his shirt open, displaying a fair amount of body hair and some pendants hanging from a chain. "Won't you be cold?"

He saddled himself on his bike and strapped his helmet under his chin. "What, a cold-hearted Pirate like Captain Hook? I'm already cold, love! Go on, hop on!" She grinned, sighed and took her seat behind him, holding on to his waistline. She had expected a crude remark about that; instead, she just got a somewhat happy smile as he turned his key and moved out of the street.

It was a strange task, riding through a cold place like Storybrooke in a red dress and high heels, but she somehow managed to keep warm. She herself couldn't figure out what the insanity was about: Only a couple of weeks back she had busted his ass for drunkenness and disturbing of the peace. He was really the epitome of a loudmouth hobo and like most rock stars had probably had more sex in one week than she'd had in her entire life. All the same, there was something that bridged her to him, a feeling of knowing what to expect… uncanny, inexplicable trust.

They rode through the woods and into the old cabin just off Toll bridge. The place, she knew, was owned by Granny and Ruby, so she was a bit surprised, but when Devlin explained to her that he had exchanged a kiss for the use of the place and that Ruby would manage to keep her old guard dog Granny busy, she figured it would be safe enough. It was, besides, far better than being seen roaming around a bar with a notorious Rocker. At least this way they were away from prying eyes.

He led the way indoors and she was pleasantly surprised to find that he already had a pleasant fire going. A welcome warmth, compared to the chill they had gained on the ride there. The second thing she saw was that he had placed a few cushions on the floor before the fireplace, with scattered boxes of foods and candies… and a single red rose. For a man with as little finesse as Devlin Kragen, she was impressed. "Wow… you really did want to… get away."

He grinned as he closed the door behind them. "I told you I was a gentleman, alas, you refused to believe me…"

Emma closed her eyes. "You licked my ear…"

He huffed and shook his head with a chuckle. "And, you will never allow me to forget that, will you?"

"You were so drunk I thought you had forgotten already."

He studied her face and nodded. "Point taken, love. You caught me on a bad night, love. I can unfortunately allow my inner demons out when I'm shitfaced." He reached over into a drawer and produced a small box. "Therefore, I'd like to initiate this cultural evening with a standard present and an apology for the lady…" He handed her the box.

Emma grinned and took it. It was a tiny little music box with a little ballerina that spun in it. It played the Swan Lake and the Ballerina was dressed as the Swan Princess. She smiled and touched it. "You're just full or surprises, aren't you?"

He blinked expectantly and when she looked into his eyes, she was surprised to find them wide open and expectant. "You like it, then?"

"Are you kidding? I love it!" She laughed. "You spared no detail."

He sighed and nodded. "Only the best, Sheriff. I have to clean my rap sheet."

She laughed aloud and shocked herself by suddenly reaching out and hugging him, hard. "Thank you."

"Oh, about bloody time…" He smiled and hugged her back.

They hugged for a few seconds before she awkwardly pulled away and made her way to the nicely set up fireplace dinner. "And just what do you have in here, aside from chocolates and flowers?"

He nodded and first walked to a corner, where he took a large guitar case, and then joined her, sitting down with a huff. "There's sandwiches in that one love, and chocolates… There's also wine, but I don't think it's a good idea…" He opened his guitar case and produced a beautifully carved acoustic guitar.

He began to fiddle with it as he tuned it, and Emma looked on: he had beautiful hands, clad with thick, bulky rings.

"So… what is there that you have to explain to me that you couldn't do your show?"

He stopped cold and shot his bluer-than-blue eyes up at her, bit his lower lip and put his guitar down with a sigh. "I wish I didn't have to…" he spoke under his breath. "Listen love… Mr. Gold and I, we don't have a good story together." He swallowed. "When you asked about that name, on the tattoo, and I answered that it was just something I got in a drunken binge… I was not being honest with you…." He closed his eyes and then shot them up at Emma. "Milah was my love. A woman I cherished above all other things. But she was… also Mr. Gold's wife."

"What?" Emma frowned.

"Please, wait!" He begged, his eyebrows a sudden inverted v. "I beg of you, her me out and then decide whether or not you wish to see me again…" He drew breath and continued. "He was not good to her, she feared him greatly… she wanted to be loved. It just happened. For two years… she left him, we lived together. She asked for a divorce, but he would not let up. He's the most powerful man in town, maybe more than the Mayor. One day, she became ill. I took her to the hospital and… she had a problem in her heart." He licked his lips repeatedly. "Dr. Whale himself carried out all the studies she needed. But the lads and I, we had nothing yet with the band and I was working as a caretaker at the docks, just cleaning the decks of the ships…" It was easy for Emma to tell he was fighting very hard not to allow any tears to even come out and make his eyes shine. "She was there for three weeks; the bills piled up and up and… I didn't have a pot to piss in; I could not afford her hospital fees. When Whale finally told me she needed an urgent operation to survive, I went to Gold. I knew it was a long shot; The Mayor would have never even given me the time of day and I know no other person that would pawn my belongings… I gave him my motorbike, all my guitars, all I had." He frowned. "He was mean, as mean as one could get. He gave me the money, told me to keep my belongings… but gave me only enough to pay for the bills and not the operation. I begged, I really did, but he refused." He huffed. "He would have rather seen her die than to be happy at my side." He sighed deep and sat up. "They let her out. Whale told me she'd only live for a few days more. So we stayed in our boat, spent every living breathing second together till…" he closed his eyes. "…she died. She went, she drew her final breath in my arms, told me she loved me, and passed away." He remained silent for a few seconds and Emma didn't know whether to say I'm sorry or to give him enough time to continue his story. "Gold hasn't forgotten. A debt is a debt, Emma, and I will always honor it, so I returned to him after her wake, offered to work for him or anything to pay him back, even if he had refused to save her life." His hands closed into fists. "He only paid for her bills to trap me in debt. He made the band what it is: found us gigs, a local record deal, made us what we are…" He looked into her eyes and Emma could see the tears had finally made their way into those large, blue pools his eyes were. "The shows make fortunes, love… he takes 80% of it. 17% goes to the lads and the pathetic remainder is pretty much my pocket money. I'm not going anywhere any time soon, unless I just walk the fuck out… And he will find me." He heaved. "He was the one to make the club gig tonight, Emma, he was the one who sent you the flowers, not I… because he… asked me to keep an eye on you. He wants me to be his spy." He shook his head. "This was a big gig. I spoke to the lads that I wouldn't show up, make the bastard look like a proper turd tonight… I won't be his pawn."

It was a lot to take in; Emma had a strong set of principles against dating married people, but the way Kragen had put it it seemed like a star-crossed lover story that had had a very sour ending, and that had led a rebellious albeit good guy down a spiraling boozing path. Sure, he had talent, looks and quite the personality, but it seemed to her then that Devlin was far more sensitive and vulnerable than he appeared. Besides, Gold, she knew, could be a pretty tough knot.

But that was not what intrigued her at that moment.

"Wait… keep an eye on me?" she sneered. "Why, what the hell for?"

"Gods know…" He huffed, pressing his lips together. "I reckon it's because you're at odds with Regina… Those two have a feud that spells longer than the Gettysburg address."

"Well, I'm not taking any sides on this!" She shrugged. "My fight is for my son!"

He smiled at her. "I take it you'll want to stay the hell away from me now, eh?" He chuckled. "Just as well."

Something in her gut told her that, however odd it might have seemed, the last thing she needed to do was push Devlin away. He was a key player in a battle that no longer seemed to concern the idea of her just being out with the wrong person; quite the opposite: Devlin and Emma were being used in a war that even they had no clue about.

She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere." She popped a chocolate into her mouth. "Seriously, they wanna play rough? I grew up an orphan, believe me, I can handle rough. Henry's MY son, nothing can or will change that."

Devlin breathed with relief. "So… you're not going to storm off into the woodland and imperil me by making me run after you?"

"You kidding? It's cold outside." She shrugged. She looked up into his eyes. "I'm sorry about your girl. I guess sometimes love has a way of showing up in the oddest places."

He nodded. "That it does, love." He grinned. "I am grateful… I've not spoken of this to anyone other than the lads…ever."

"Glad I could help. Now it would be a great thing to figure out what the hell Gold's got up his sleeve with me."

He cackled. "Now THAT…" He opened up a beer and gave it to her. "I could do… Gladly." Opened another for himself and propped it forward. "To a fruitful partnership, Swan; may we defeat our foe and avenge our dearly departed with grievous satisfaction…"

Clink.

"Ok, whatever…" Emma smiled awkwardly before taking a drink. "So, shall we eat, play dominoes, what?"

He placed his beer down and nodded before he picked up his guitar. "I wasn't joshing when I said I'd written you a song, love…"

Emma smiled. "Ok, sounds like a plan. Let me hear it…"

He nodded and cleared his throat, fiddled around a little bit and started to play… slow, melodious, beautiful notes, of a song so slow and beautiful, Emma was swept away immediately by the perfection of the music stemming from his fingers.

He sang.

_Who are you, lady, swimming on the mirrored lake?_

_What have you done to my evening's sleep and my morning's wake?_

_So bright a light in yonder darkness glows for me._

_Only for me._

_Why do you, lady, dwell within my restless thought?_

_With princely beauty you've taken hold of my freedom harshly fought._

_So fair a lady in yonder darkness, shining free._

_Only for me._

_You have taken from me my shadowed torment sad, _

_And turned to beauty all the sadness that I had._

_A pirate and a dweller of the darkest, darkest seas, _

_I've found the guiding star that delivered me to peace._

_So bad a wretched figure of a man at war with love_

_Has seen the whitest bird as it circles far above…_

_And you, my guiding swan, my whited dove that lights my life,_

_Are far away from my touch… but always within my mind._

By the time he was done, Emma had all but forgotten to breathe.

"Well?" He held his breath. "You like it?"

Emma shook her head and finally drew breath. She could barely mumble. "You… did this? You wrote that? For me?"

He looked at her, not quite knowing what to make of her astonishment, but instinct told him it was good. He smiled and nodded. "Aye… You make a fine muse."

"I… don't know what to say…"

"Well, thank you would be a good start. Perhaps some gratitude is in order now. " He laughed. "Go on… have another drink."

Suddenly, Emma's lips spoke of their own account. "I really want to kiss you right now…"

Devlin rolled his eyes up at her. "Come again?"

"You heard me."

He bit his lower lip and grinned. "Love, right now, I think you couldn't handle it…"

She moved closer to him. "Maybe you're the one who couldn't handle it, but I'm still asking."

He smiled, stunned at her determination. He said nothing and simply slid one hand under her hair, pulling her neck to him, closing his eyes as their lips grazed, gently, curiously and feeling like velvet. With the sudden feeling of her fingers running through his hair, Devlin drew breath and released it through his nose, his kiss locked, melting into the begging shape of her lips as they molded into his own.

Something happened… something suddenly snapped; it was as if they both knew who they were, where they were from… and their kiss intensified, desire building up as their bodies suddenly lurched forward, fitting perfectly into one another, like an embrace created by an artist on a marble stone.

With a deep breath, she stopped the kiss. "We shouldn't…" she whispered, her eyes closed and her lips trembling as his forehead pressed against hers and his fingers gently grasped her neck from behind.

"Why?" He whispered back.

"Because… We don't know each other…"

He smiled. "Well, what finer way to start…" he licked his lips.

She held his face away for a few seconds. "Why do I feel like I know you?"

He furrowed his brow and his voice broke, excitedly. "I had thought the exact same thing."

She made no more of it. 'Trust your gut', had always been her motto. It would probably hurt to take a leap of faith… again. But what was life without faith? So she simply closed her eyes and melted away, first into his kisses, then into his hands as he gently pushed her back on the carpet, her head on one of the cushions…. And finally, into his body, all of it; they made love passionately by the fireplace, skin to skin.

And it felt right. She touched every corner of his tattooed arms and was somewhat stunned to find some uncanny scars on his back and chest, and he displayed a strangely awkward grimace when she ran her fingers down the hook tattoo on his left arm. They became one and finished in a climatic surge, something Emma herself knew didn't happen too often.

Who was he? How did he fit so perfectly into her life, when he was exactly the kind of man she would have run for the hills from in all practicality?

Afterwards, they held each other under a quilt by the fire, and she fell asleep as he caressed her golden tresses. He stared into the crackling fire in front of him and sighed with a deep smile that led to the first dreamless sleep he'd had since his Milah had died.

…..

After closing doors, the manager at the Rabbit Hole had warned Mr. Gold about his protégés never again being allowed to set foot in the club.

The lads shrugged it off. Rock n' Roll, they thought. Their friend and captain had a right to be.

But something began to happen to Gold as he calmly walked back to his shot and home that night… his eyes and skin began to shift. "You've played me for the last time, Killian jones…. NOBODY breaks a deal with me. Nobody…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Pirates ahoy!**

**Storybrooke's slightly bigger than we all thought. A whole other gang of pirates (other than the Jolly Roger's crew and Cap) have always dwelled there and who knew! LOL. This one is a little bit OUCH…. Things are starting to unravel fast! Hope you enjoy! Plz review! Thanks!**

Band rivalry; Always a crucial part of the struggling rock n' roll band scenario, it seems.

Captain Hook and The Jolly Rockers were not the only combo to be trying hard to make it as Storybrooke's number one rock n roll act; on the south side, closer to the town limit, another band rocked the local radio waves, a five-member suite of tough as nails rockers called "Billy Bones". These guys were as badass as any guy could want them; while Devlin Kragen relied on overwhelming talent, looks and raw charisma, the band's lead singer, Jonathan Legwood, was as much of a gutter rat as one could get. While Devlin had at least a modicum of charm and was deep down quite a good person, Legwood was as bad as they could come: He had more often than not been busted for drug dealing as a means to survive, been taken in for battery (mostly girlfriends) and word had it he'd killed a cat to wear its skin on stage. There was a long record of theft, sexual abuse and vandalism that overshadowed Devlin's like a zeppelin.

As cool as heavy metal could be, this guy and his band took it to the extreme, Marilyn Manson be damned… and they were all but set to crush their only musical rivals out of the scene.

They crept into the northern side, a gang of bikers unlike anything Storybrooke had ever seen; before the eyes of terrified bypassers, the loud sound of their bikes flooding the streets. They shocked the town by turning left into the posh, well off side of the suburban neighborhood, parking in front of Mayor Mills's home.

Henry was sitting out in the garden, reading from his book, which Emma had returned shortly after he had lent it to her; He was focused on the image of Captain Hook and Long John Silver enthralled in a swashbuckling fight. Suddenly the light of the sun was blocked by a towering figure.

Henry looked up and swallowed hard. "Good book there, laddie?" came the growling cackle. "I love me a good pirate's tale as well…"

The eleven-year-old almost lost all his freckles. "The pirates…" He mumbled under his breath.

Jonathan Legwood crouched at the boy's side. "Aye lad. Always fun types, are they not? A pirate's life, full of adventure, gold and more gorgeous wenches than they can eat…" he cackled a gargling laugh that was as pirately as one could think. "Why, no young lad I've ever known of hasn't wanted to be one, eh?"

"Henry! Get inside!"

The boy did not need to be told twice; he grabbed his book and ran like a torpedo inside, up to his room and to his window. "They're here..." He huffed. He ran to his bed and grabbed his walkee-talkee as he overlooked on his mother, talking to the rugged gang of bikers, on her front lawn. "Operation Cobra Emergency! Emma, Emma, you read me? Over!"

"Loud and clear, kid, come in! Over."

"Emma, the pirates! They're here, they've arrived! Over…"

"Well, we'll be on the lookout. Over."

"Have you recruited Captain Hook and his crew yet? Over…"

Emma grinned. "One could say that… over."

"Well, tell them to be sharp. These guys look as bad as they come, like some biker gang, over…"

The blonde Sheriff sat up straight. "Wait, wait, kid… what you mean?" She frowned. "Is there anyone there right now? Over…"

"Yeah! They're talking to the Evil Queen. You'll know him when you see him: he has a tattoo clear across his face! Like a scar! He's blinded in one eye, he's definitely a scary looking guy! Just like the one in the book, over."

Something made Emma feel a little bit alarmed. "Henry, whatever you do, stay inside! I'll be over in a second, over…"

"No, don't!" Henry hollered back. "Remember, you are the one he wants! Just get Hook to take care of it, he will know what to do! Over…"

Emma cleared her throat. She tried to connect back to Henry, but the battery on her end had suddenly run out. "Shit!" She slammed her open palm on the desk. She turned around, grabbed her scarf and went out to her patrol car.

Regina Mills walked to face the towering biker with a thunder tattoo across his face. Arms crossed and swaying her hips in the way only she knew how to do, the suited mayor of Storybrooke took her grinning face to within an inch of his. "You are bold, Legwood. I thought I had made myself perfectly clear that you…"

"Would not come to this side of town? Huh…" He nodded. "You were clear, Mayor; Cristal clear."

"Well in that case, I fail to understand what the hell you're doing here, aside from littering my front lawn."

The rocker turned to his posse and tilted his head outwards, signaling them to leave. He then turned his somber face to her. "We had an agreement… you have not kept your end of the bargain."

"Yes!" Regina nodded. "And that's because the Jolly Rogers and their dear old Captain are still circling around town! Now you get your wages when I get mine, no sooner and no later. That's the deal."

The man growled with a smirk. "Ah… really?" he stomped around the garden, looking at the hedges that patulated up the walls of her property. "You have made such a grand life here, Mayor Mills… we wouldn't want to see that come apart now, would we?"

Regina smiled and gazed at the man sideways. "And… just how might that happen?"

"Well I don't know…" He sniffed as he pulled an apple from her tree. "You do seem like you've made a rather nice living for that wee lad that just ran indoors…"

Regina nodded and once again approached Legwood. "You think that because you're a big badass punk I'm intimidated? You are WAY out of your league here, Legwood. You have no idea who you are messing with. Now…" She smiled. "You find a way to get Devlin Kragen and the Jolly Rogers out of the picture, in any way you can, and you will be top of the bill, as promised. And…" She bit her lip. "…you must pay special attention on Kragen himself. You see… his new girlfriend is somewhat of a nuisance… in more ways that you can imagine."

The man side grinned. "Is she pretty?"

Regina scowled. "In a slutty, California girl kind of way, I guess she is."

"Sounds like my kind of woman."

"Do what you gotta do." She sneered. "And then, you get your way. But threaten me again… and deal with the consequences."

The one eyed, black-haired musician licked his lips. "I do like a woman with gumption…"

"You have no idea." She grinned back, before turning around and going back indoors.

Henry looked on as the massive man and his combo of Goth rockers left the property oin their bikes, leaving the apple on the floor. "Oh this is not good…" He shook his head.

….

Devlin whistled as he hosed down the deck of his tiny little boat. He may have had little more than that and his guitar collection and bike, but at that moment, he felt on top of the world. It was an eerie matching, the local bum rocker and the Sheriff, but he was as excited as he hadn0t been since he had met Milah. He had never expected to feel this way about anyone again, so it was a welcome surprise. It was also quite a shock to both to feel so close after only having seen each other a couple of times, but somehow… it all just fit, as if it had been meant to be; maybe he knew her from a past life, one he didn't remember.

He stopped and leaned against the edge of his boat, getting slightly wet at the hip as he lit up a cigarette. He exhaled smoke and looked at the coastline before him. The morning was glorious: the sun was shining, there was a vool breeze coming in from the sea and… all seemed well. Maybe now that the Sheriff knew about Mr. Gold's manipulative schemes, she might be able to help him out of this conundrum and this fortuitous serendipity that had been their meeting would finally make some sense.

"Ah, enjoying the view, are we?"

Devlin closed his eyes and turned with a grin. "I was…"

Gold approached him, cane in hand, and stood by the pier as the boat softly wobbled on the water. "You are a very unprofessional character, Kragen." He spoke coldly. "The Rabbit Hole has refused to let any of you ever set foot there again."

"The Rabbit Hole…" Devlin laughed. "The day you tell me that about Madison Square Garden, THEN I'll go down on my knees and weep." He pulled a drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke in Gold's direction. "Sorry mate. Felt Ill."

"Ill…" Gold grinned. "Lovesickness? Yes, I hear you have somewhat of an infatuation for our young sheriff…" He leaned both hands on his cane. "And, does the lady correspond?"

Devlin huffed smoke through his lips. "She does."

"Ah, well, isn't it a merry little thing? Our Jolly Rocker's found his happily ever after now, eh?" He nodded. "I'll give you one final chance, Devlin: Did you find anything out about her?"

Devlin smiled and cocked his head back, remembering the night at her side, the warmth, the beauty and the music in his head that was spun by her kisses, her skin and her green eyes. "Just about everything there is to be found out, I suppose; in very colorful detail. But..." He looked at Mr. Gold with a smiling, cheeky sneer. "A true gentleman won't tell details of his dalliance with a lady; it's bad form, mate. No kiss and tell for you." He threw the cigarette butt into the water and turned to shut off the hose, using his right arm to tie it up in circles. "And anyways, why is Emma so bloody relevant to you? Got a thing for her, as well? I'm not in the mood for another round of rivalries…"

Mr. Gold chuckled. "One could say my interest in Miss Swan goes beyond the limits of Storybrooke."

"Ah!" Devlin smiled, fully but cagily. "Aren't you the caring one... Who are you, the man that abandoned her at birth?"

Gold continued to chuckle coldly. Devlin opened the hatchet to the lower level of his boat, holding on to the edge of it with his left hand, and tossed the hose in.

"The fine for not showing at the Rabbit Hole…" Gold grinned. "…is five thousand. I expect it to come out of your wages, Kragen."

Devlin laughed, propping himself back up to the deck, his hand still grasping the edge of the hatchet. "And how do you suppose I'll be able to pay that, mate, with what little I get after the way you drain me dry?"

Mr. Gold's eyes darkened. "Well, Captain Hook, you know what they say… these things can cost an arm and a leg."

Just then, the hatchet fell shut with a loud thud on Devlin's hand. His pained holler was heard for miles as he tried to pull the hatch back up. Mr. Gold stood idly by and after a few seconds, began to walk away with an immane grin as he pulled out his mobile and called 911. "Hello… you want to come over the west docks right now… a man's just lost his hand here…"

…

Emma patrolled the Mayor's neighborhood carefully, looking for anyone that might look like what her son had just described. She stopped by Regina's house and defiantly walked up her porch, ringing the ding-donging bell that sounded like it would have been used for the White House. Regina opened the door and a wicked smirk crossed her lips. "Well, Miss Swan, you do have some nerve…"

"I'm not gonna waste any time with you, Regina." She replied abruptly. "I'm looking for a gang of thugs on motorbikes, they were seen around this neighborhood. You don't know where they are, by chance?"

Regina frowned. "Does this place look like a biker bar to you, Miss Swan?"

"Anyone can hear a biker gang, sister." She huffed. "Now, do you know anything about it, or don't you?"

Regina bit her lower lip. "No." She replied coldly.

Emma looked into her eyes and squinted. "You're lying."

"Am I?"

"Yep. There is something going on and you are not being honest."

Regina stepped onto the porch. "Now that is a very serious accusation to make, Emma… especially against the Mayor of this town. Now I suggest that you turn around, get back in your patrol and, if as you say, there is a chain gang in my town, find them, bust them and get it over with instead of standing here acting tough!"

And she shut the door on Emma's face.

"Bitch…" Emma whispered under her breath as she made the way down the little brick path to her patrol, turning over to the window, where Henry looked at her, smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Emma smiled back and returned to her patrol.

Her radio suddenly blared. "All units, all units, we have a 10-33 with 10-47, VIP at the town hospital, all units…"

Emma huffed and picked it up. "Sheriff Swan, come in…"

"Sheriff there is a VIP 10-47 with massive crowds outside the hospital; we need backup to clear them off. Over."

Emma frowned. "VIP?"

"Roger that."

_Trust your gut_… and her gut was twisting in its place.

"I copy, I'm on my way!" she retorted and sped like lightning out of the fancy neighborhood, speeding as fast as she could towards the town center.

When she reached the hospital entrance, she was met with three other police cars (probably the only others she'd seen since she arrived in Storybrooke) and she stepped haphazardly out of the car and somehow found her way past the crowds. She reached the main entrance, where another female cop stood by and denied entry. "Sheriff…" she greeted Emma with a head nod.

"What's going on?" Emma panted as she frowned. "What's with the crowds?"

The cop shook her head. "Rockers… Devlin Kragen from the Jolly Rogers was just brought into E.R." she sighed. "Looked messy… lots of blood."

Emma felt her stomach sink; god, she hated being right.

"I have to go in… "

"Ok Sheriff…" The girl nodded and stood aside to allow Emma to pass.

The hospital staff was running in circles and it was perfectly obvious that something completely out of the ordinary was going on. She went to the front desk and tapped hard. "Hey!" she called for a nurse, who went to her with a puzzled face. "Kragen?"

"Oh, he's in the Op Room."

"What happened?" Emma moaned, her winced face depicting far more than what she wished to.

"A little accident…" Came that cold, alligator voice from behind.

Emma turned slowly and found Gold, staring coldly at her. "Gold…" she whispered, pressing her lips tight together. "I should have known…"

Mr. Gold shook his head. "I don't quite follow…"

"What did you do to him?"

"Me?" he grinned a startled, head shaking grin. "Why, I did nothing. Let the lad himself tell you. He and I were disputing our differences, as we commonly do, and… well, the hatchet of his boat seemed to have a mind of its own, closed hard on his hand." He leaned forward and squinted his eyes. "I did nothing. I didn't even touch the man. In fact, I was the one to call for an ambulance. Good thing too, or he would have bled out."

Emma paced and stood mere inches from his face. "I don't know what you're up to… but I do know that, whatever it is… you won't get away with it." She approached him more. "I know about you, Gold. I know what you did regarding Milah Gold's hospital bills… how you let some poor woman die out of jealousy and how you coerced Devlin into doing your bidding… well, you wanted to know of me? Here I am. Show some balls. Ask away… what do you want to know and why?"

Mr. Gold laughed aloud. "Do you truly believe my plans to be Machiavellian, Miss Swan? I am but a mere pawn in a game that is far bigger than what you can still fathom." He paced around. "We all play a role in this game, and yours, Emma, is, let's say, the most vital. Believe it or not, I have taken care of Mr. Kragen, far more than he can imagine." He walked to her again. "It is not I or he that you should be worried about, dearie… other things are at play. While Devlin remains in hospital, he is safe. You, however, have a chance now to show what you're truly made of."

"Really? And what's that?"

He sighed. "We will see… Emma. We will see."

He returned to the seating area and sat, simply staring at some blank point in a not so far distance.

Flustered, Emma turned to the front desk. "Excuse me…" The nurse returned to her. "What exactly are they doing to him?"

"I'm sorry… are you family?"

She knew Devlin had no family. His only brother had died a few years back, his mom had died giving birth to him and his father was pretty much MIA, so she resorted to the one string she had that could pull just about anything she needed. She reached to her hip for her badge. "Police business…"

The nurse gasped, wide-eyed. "Oh, you're Sheriff Swan! I'm so sorry!" she turned to the hospital. "Paging Dr. Whale, Dr. Whale to front desk, please…"

Emma nodded. "Thank you…" and she walked away from the front desk.

It was another twenty minutes before Whale finally showed up, removing his operating cover and throwing it into a recycling bin. It made Emma cringe to see that the garments in the bin were spattered in blood.

"Sheriff…" Whale nodded. "Can I help you?"

She nodded and walked to the doctor. "I'm here to see about your VIP. Kragen…" she stood straight, poker faced and pretended to be there strictly for routine. "What the hell happened?"

Whale winced. "He came in with a crushed hand and in extreme pain; Some sort of boating accident. Part of it was already completely detached. We tried to save at least a couple of his fingers, but all the nerve endings were already severed and the bone around his wrist completely pulverized." He shook his head and looked down. "We had to amputate. I understand he is a… well, was a guitar player, so I have already notified the psychology department for when he wakes, it's going to be quite a blow." He raised his eyes up at Emma, who looked positively distraught. "Sheriff… are you ok?"

She could still feel the touch of both his hands on her body, caressing her hair, her face, her breasts, touching her intimately, sensually, so warm and gentle… now one hand less on him. It ached in places she didn't know she had to think what he would wake to. "I think… I would like to talk to him as soon as he regains consciousness."

Whale nodded. "Suspect foul play?"

She shook her head. "I no longer know what to think… I'll just have to make heads out of tails on this one. Gotta start somewhere."

"Well, he's being awakened now. He probably will be hearing the news soon enough. Maybe you should be there."

Emma looked to the floor and nodded. "Yeah; maybe I should."

Whale led her to the I.C. unit where Kragen had been taken to. As soon as they reached his quarter, Whale pulled the curtain, showing the handsome rocker, groggy, in bed, shivering slightly as he came to from the operation. The orderly and another doctor joined Emma and Whale, whispering, "We already informed him, doctor."

"Very well; administer two c.c.'s of Fentanyl every twelve hours for the pain and three c.c's of Cefoxitin for prophylaxis, every eight." He raised his eyes to the young man on the bed. "And do not discharge him for the next four days. I want to keep an eye on him."

"Is he insured?" Emma stood in front of Whale.

Whale sighed. "He's a major rock star in Storybrooke. He actually is. It was a shame his old girlfriend wasn't."

"You treated her?"

"I did. She could have lived." He shook his head. "I hate the insurance system…" he began to walk away, turning to Emma before disappearing down the hall. "If there is anything else you need, Sheriff, I will be in my office. Lots of paperwork when we're dealing with celebs…"

Emma turned to look at Devlin as he lay on the bed and paced slowly forward. He opened his eyes and his blue gaze met hers as tears slowly and silently slid down his cheeks. She reached out and tried to grab his hand but failed to feel it. There was no hand there to be taken; only a bandaged stump with a blood stain. He grinned through the tears and spoke groggily. "You… might want to try the other side instead, darling…"

She chuckled, teary eyed, and ignored his comment, coming closer and caressing his forehead. "I'm so sorry…" she whimpered, one hand on his shoulder and the other on his fringe.

He smiled and sneered. "It's only a hand, love… I could have lost my pecker and then I'd be in a pickle…"

She laughed again, but while his mouth spoke of ironic humor, his saddened eyes told a different story. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "You can still sing…" She nodded. "You have a great voice, even if you can't play anymore…"

"In a sense, it's just as well, love…" He sighed. "Gold can keep my guitars as payment. They're good guitars… I…" The sobs finally caught up with him as he closed his eyes tight and gritted his teeth. "I won't have much use for them any more…"

There was nothing she could say. It just ached her to imagine how he was feeling and tears began to well in her own eyes as she held his head to her chest, caressing his hair. At times like those, one can do little other than just remaining silent and… being there. Nothing else.

Night fell and Devlin was sleeping when Emma finally left the hospital.

She had been radioed for something else… apparently; a biker gang had vandalized the local radio station after they refused to play their demo. Just like that.

When she reached the place she realized the magnitude of the term "vandalized"; the place was on fire and the fire department was only just controlling it. Henry hadn't been kidding: These people were worse than she had imagined and the town would suffer for it as long as she didn't take a stand. But with her "pirate Hook" ensconced in hospital after losing his hand, she had little to no backup.

The fire department controlled the flames and informed Emma that they would seek the source of the fire to inform her immediately afterwards.

She went home that night and found, as per request, a post it on the door; Mary Margaret and David were… as she had said, "doing the deed". No chance she'd go inside and see things she really didn't need or wish to see.

She shook her head and slid on the wall outside. "Great." She huffed, knowing that chances were that she'd have to sleep right there, outside her door. She instead settled for a nice, warm desk at the precinct.

She found herself comfortably settling for one of the prison cells; it wasn't like she had never spent a night in jail: try eleven months of it! But even though she was exhausted (and terrified), she found little to no solace in her semi-comfortable arrangement. She felt tears sting her eyes, and his name came to her lips, like a whisper… "Dev…."

In his hospital bed, Devlin also felt himself whispering her name…. "Emma…"


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry about the delay; the Easter holls dragged me out of my home for a couple of days to catch some sun, but I'm back. I actually did think how I was going to go about the next chapters while I was in the pool.**

**Thanks a lot for the comments and reviews and likes and follows and faves. I'm enjoying writing this! I hope you continue enjoying reading through it as much as I enjoy writing it!**

Emma hadn't seen Devlin since he was discharged from the hospital a week before. She had tried calling, visiting his boat (which still bore the dried up blood puddle where he had lost his hand), texting… but nothing.

She figured she might get something out of his manager; he was always in his store. Always.

The bell atop the door rang as she let herself in. Mr. Gold was cleaning what looked like an old, folding spyglass, and he looked up at Emma as she paced to him. "Whatever it is you want, dearie, you could very well come in here during business hours. I'm closed for the day."

Emma looked at the spyglass with a frown and licked her lips as he put it back inside the glass cabinet. "You're the band's manager, so you should know…" She huffed. "I've asked everyone in town and no one has seen Devlin for a week, not even the Jolly Rogers. Do you know anything?" Gold looked at her with a poker-faced glare and she returned it with equal desultory intensity. "Last time I saw him he spoke about giving you his guitars as payment of his debt. I know you're not gonna let him off the hook so easily."

"Off the hook…" He smiled and chuckled. "Ironic that you should choose that particular wording, love." He looked at her again. "He indeed gave me his guitars, amps and pedals. In all it added up to maybe eight thousand dollars; Still not enough to cover the debt by a long shot…"

"You're not gonna cut him any slack, are you?"

"A debt is a debt, Miss Swan." He raised a finger. "If I recall correctly, you too owe me a favor there… when I allowed Miss Ashley to keep her baby."

"Oh wow, am I condemned to a ball and chain as well?" She answered seriously.

"I will make use of that favor when the time is right. However…" He licked his lips. "I too wish I knew where Kragen is. He came in with his things and I haven't seen him since."

"Why do I sense you're not telling me the truth?"

"Ah, that famous skill of yours, Sheriff." He sighed and placed both hands on the counter. "However hard you wish that I were lying, I double that wish. I do hope you find him soon, Miss Swan. It will not do him or I any good if he tries to leave this town."

"Well, I wouldn't blame him if he did." She replied dryly.

Gold grinned and stepped out from behind the counter, limping. "There is something you have to see, Miss Swan. Would you kindly come with me to the back of the shop?"

Emma squinted her eyes but followed Gold with her hand on her hip, ready to draw and shoot if he as much as twitched a little too suddenly.

At the back of the shop, he walked to a tall rack and opened the top cabinet. He produced an object covered in fabric and placed it on the table. He unveiled it and displayed a large leather-clad box… an empty box at that.

Emma sneered and looked up at him. "What am I supposed to make out of this? He gave you his guitars but stole a fiddle from you?"

Gold chuckled. "This, miss Swan, is a case for a seventeenth-century, custom-made hand prosthetic. Mr. Kragen showed keen interest in it a while back as a prop for his band image, but I refused to let him have it. It is, you could say, a wee bit dangerous, especially with a man with his particular… mental stability."

Emma frowned and closed her eyes. "A hook… it's a hook."

"Aye, that it is, Miss Swan." He closed the box. "I noticed it was missing after he came here to leave his instruments…" He raised his eyes at her. "I've known your rocking little boyfriend for a while longer than you, Emma… and believe me when I tell you that our dear Captain has all but lost the bolts on his hinges. I will not deny I fear for my life… but all the more, I fear for his…"

"Since when do you give a crap about him?" she answered coldly. "You never forgave him for taking your wife, why should I believe you have HIS best interest at heart?"

"Because, dearie…" He leaned forward, approaching her face. "...much as I grieve over the past heartache he and my late former wife caused me, he is the key to my future… and yours." Emma could have sworn she saw his eyes twinkle in gold and yellow for a second. "Miss Swan, there is much more to you than you imagine. Things are starting to take a turn for the worst. Believe me…. It's in everyone's best interest if you find him before Regina does… or before he finds me."

He slammed the box shut and Emma licked her lips. "I doubt he'd hurt me…"

"Oh, he won't…" He smiled. "He's positively besotted over you, after your little cabin rendezvous."

Emma's eyes widened. "How did you…?"

"Small town, dearie; Small town."

"You really are on top of everything, aren't you?" She blushed.

"What's important…" he smiled villainously. "It's what's behind that little event."

"It was a one-time thing."

"For now, maybe…" he walked her out to the front of the shop. "But every princess needs her prince… or her pirate." He winked at her.

Emma rolled her eyes. "You are starting to sound like my son, now."

"Am I? Well, then, if you won't hear me out, you might want to listen to the boy. He has, let's say, a far better outlook on this than most people." He side grinned. "Miss Swan, we have a new gang in town."

"Billy Bones… Yeah I know of them. Goth rock, not my cup of tea."

"They are the ones who set light to the radio station."

Emma shook her head. "How do you know this?"

He paced patiently around the shop. "Oh, I just do. One regular person would immediately think it's all about band rivalry; others, however…" he flicked his fingers upward with a cheeky grin. "…might see it as an attempt to put a damper on something that will change the course of this town's particular fate… an attempt by someone who is willing to go to any length to remain in control of everything and everyone in this town… including your son."

Emma pressed her lips together. "Regina… They're working for Regina…"

He walked to her and stood nearly nose to nose to her. "In light of the grievous kind of ordeal we face if this chain gang goes unchallenged, Emma, I suggest you find your boy and look over that book once again before you even attempt to find Mr. Kragen." He sneered. "If not… it all might just get too messy." Having said this, he turned and headed back to the back of the shop. "You know the way out, dearie."

Something in Emma's stomach twisted hard and she didn't think twice before turning tail and running out, climbing in her bug and riding to Regina's in a frenzy. She stopped a few yards from the property and produced her radio. "Hello, Kid, Operation Cobra needs help here, over…"

It took a couple of calls more for Henry to reply. "I get you, Emma, over."

"You were right, kid… this is a major Cobra emergency. Need to meet you ASAP, I'm a block away from your place. Bring your book…" Emma rolled her eyes and sighed as she said those final words. "Over."

"Why don't you come to me? I'm at the sand dune, where the castle used to be. It's empty, there's no one here, we can talk… over."

"On my way… over."

Never in her life had Emma believed there would be anything that would make her even give this whole delusion of her son's the time of day, but her instinct alone was pounding within her like Sugar Ray Leonard. She couldn't understand it; sure, he was a cool guy, famous and charismatic and god knew he was good looking; he had been the first to show true kindness to her since Henry's dad eleven years earlier and seemed to know her better than most people, but one night of sex in the cabin didn't exactly make Devlin Kragen her one true soul mate! Besides, he had just endured a terrible ordeal and was, as Gold had so eloquently put it, a bit off his hinges.

So why, then, did she feel deep down that it was just vitally important on a personal level for Devlin to be found?

As Emma parked around the curve, Henry ran to her and got in the car. "Ok, I take it you've seen that the pirates are here."

"Pirates… on Harleys. Yeah, you could say that." She nodded. "I just wanna take a look at that book of yours for a second, Henry."

As she went through the pages, she thought of places where Devlin could be hiding… as well as his entire purpose to go missing. Henry cut into her thoughts. "So, you said you had recruited Captain Hook… where is he? Does he know?"

Emma closed her eyes, and winced. "Well, he's kind of… Missing in Action right now Henry."

"WHAT?" He jumped.

"I'm actually trying to find him before the other guys do."

"Of course!" he raised his hands. "They're trying to destroy him too!" He looked at her. "We need to get them all together, fast!"

As Emma reached the page where Captain Hook was depicted fighting Long John Silver, the wind started to pick up outside. Emma turned another page and read about the famous one handed character. She winced at the illustration, showing a ravaged, angry, blue, eyed man, holding a left hook by his face, plotting revenge. The text read: "_He knew, if he was to beat his foe, he needed to make it clear who he was: No other pirate could be fiercer, angrier and more vengeful than Killian Jones. But deep in his heart, his soul yearned for redemption, a magic word, a soft hand that would stop him from delivering the fatal blow to his foe. Within his solitary wooden confinement, Hook yearned for love, his only possible savior_."

She looked up and sneered. "Wooden confinement?"

Henry shrugged. "I've been trying to make out what the heck that means too." He looked at Emma. "I saw in the news what happened to Devlin Kragen. I know he is the one. How did you meet him?"

"What?"

"His band is pretty awesome. I have their record, but my mom doesn't know it. It's in my iPod…" he nodded confidently.

She laughed. "Long story, kid."

"We need to get him back!"

"Yeah…" She side-grinned. "Working on it."

An increasingly powerful storm had now replaced the cold drizzly wind that had started minutes earlier. Emma looked up from beneath her windshield. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"This is Storybrooke, Emma. Expect the unexpected."

She looked at Henry and pressed her lips together. "I'm gonna have to drop you off. Can't let you walk out there."

The boy shrugged and nodded. "Ok… but we're wasting time. You need to find Hook."

"Look, I'm the sheriff, leave that to me." She smiled as she started the car engine.

As she pulled over, Regina opened the door to her porch. Henry ran out and tried to the best of his ability to shield himself from the rain as he passed by his adoptive mother and up to his room. Emma followed him and was stopped by the brown eyed Mayor with a single hand to her chest. "Whoa, Sheriff, where do you think...?"

"Kragen's missing." She blurted. "We need to talk."

Regina chuckled. "I fail to see how that concerns me."

"Well, you are the Mayor of this town." Emma challenged. "The well-being of your citizens should be your primary concern. As far as I know, that includes Devlin Kragen.

Regina huffed. "And what do you want from me?"

"The truth." Emma spat back. "That new metal band that came into town last week? They're not here for the pizza, lady."

Regina scowled and crossed her arms. "I'm afraid that you're not making any sense, Miss Swan. What have I got to do in band rivalry issues?"

"Well, Devlin's stolen a rather valuable tool to start poking a few eyes out. And given that he just lost his hand and that he has a long standing grudge with Mr. Gold that's pretty much driving him up the wall, I'm thinking that a biker gang chasing him down might just push that final button that regulates his sanity..." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you don't want to speak to the papers about how Kragen gutted a guy with a thunder tattoo across his face."

Regina held her stare, but her regular, chilled grin had disappeared. "Well, I suppose that certain measures will be necessary. You of all people should know how to get to the man, what with your... little dalliance..."

Emma huffed hard and shook her head. "Small town, I know..."

That got Regina's smile back. "Smaller than you think."

"Well, whatever. Truth is, I have no idea where he is. No one does."

Regina smirked. "Looks like we might have to think it over as a team." She swallowed. "Won't you come in?"

"No thanks."

"Miss Swan, I am not going to stand here in the middle of a storm chatting and raising my voice; now either you come in or you leave my property!"

Emma narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips tight, following Regina indoors. She hated that house; it was much like her office at Town Hall: Cold, austere and much like a museum, where one cannot touch a thing. She followed Regina to the kitchen and sat on a stool by the island while Regina dove into the oven. "You might not be my favorite person in the world, Emma..." she huffed as she produced a large tray with what had to be said were some delicious looking turnovers. "But even I can hold a civil conversation with your sort."

"My sort?"

"Yeah. YOUR sort. The kind that like to dally with the bad boys, sort."

Emma sighed and started to stand up. "I don't have to listen to this..."

"Nonetheless..." Regina interrupted. "... I too have to admit when a person is right." She placed the turnovers in a tray. "Kragen's a liability; he must be stopped before he kills someone. And that... is YOUR job, Sheriff."

"I just needed to ask you one thing, Regina." Emma replied. "What do you get out of all this?"

Regina looked offended. "I beg your pardon?"

"I know there's something behind all this. I have witnesses that indeed saw the bikers talking to you the day Kragen lost his hand."

"I really don't have to explain my work affairs with you Miss Swan, but I'll play along." She took one turnover and placed it in a bag. "They did come here, on my request. I am the one who signed as responsible for Jonathan's Legwood parole and I had him see me about some irregularities." She smirked. "I have the papers to prove it."

Emma bit on her lip, thinking that perhaps she could be using his parole permit as means to get him to do her bidding.

"I was told you don't really like Devlin Kragen very much." Emma said, eyeing the turnovers.

Regina shook her head. "I don't. I am not one of those liberal hippie haired freaks who believe rock and roll lifestyles are a good example for the young. However, it is a free country." She placed the plastic bag in front of Emma.

"What is this?" Emma sneered.

"An apple turnover, Miss Swan."

Emma furrowed her brow. "Why are you giving me this?"

"I made too many."

In spite of her long standing feud against Regina for the love of their son, Emma had been glancing at the turnovers for a while, so she simply nodded, grabbed the bag and looked at Regina. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now I suggest," Regina replied as she dusted her hands, "...that you go find that one-handed freak and retrieve that hook from him before he does something with it!" she nodded. "You might want to try looking in the woods, close to the well. It's a much frequented stop for pot-smokers."

Emma sighed and slipped out, ran to her car and drove to the well area, still thinking about what Devlin could do with the hook he...

She was already halfway there when she suddenly realized, she had never told Regina that it had been the prosthetic hook that had been stolen from Gold's shop.

She turned with a sudden jerk of the wheel... and her passage was cut by the image of five motorbikes blocking her way... together with the five towering owners of the vehicles.

"Oh shit..." she huffed, as one of them, the biggest, stepped to her and broke the glass of her window with a bat.

"Hello there, pretty..." he growled, and pulled her by the hair, trying to pull her out through the window.

A sudden thud knocked the man to the floor. He released his grip on Emma's hair and she winced, taking her hand to the place where at least a good half inch patch of it had been ripped from the root, leaving a small bloody wound. She looked back up and in front of her, lit by the headlights, was Devlin, fighting with the man who now Emma knew had to be Jonathan Legwood. In spite of being half of Legwood's size, Devlin didn't cower and even seemed to be welcoming the quarrel. He didn't easily take a beating, either. He somehow cleverly wacked Legwood across the face with the back of the... hook. Yes, he had it in the place where his hand should have been, shining with the reflection of the headlights. Legwood was temporarily stunned and Emma saw in horror how the other four bikers were making their way towards Devlin. He didn't stand a chance.

She reached over and opened her car door, honking the horn for him. "COME ON!" she shouted.

Devlin took one look, smiled and leapt over her hood to slide himself into the side-seat. Before he could even shut the door, Emma had turned with a screeching noise and sped like hell through the rain in the highway.

Whole she was trying to recover from the shock, Devlin was exhilarated, laughing and screaming.

"SHUT UP!" she finally shouted, trying to focus on the road through burning tears. "Are you fucking insane, Devlin? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Every bit at that!" he laughed. "did you see the looks on their faces, love? We make a brilliant team!"

"We are NOT a team!" she shouted back, livid. "That guy broke my window! He was pulling me out by the hair, Devlin, is that really that hilarious to you?!"

Panting, Devlin was about to reply when he saw the blood trickling down the side of her head. His maniacal huffing stopped at the sight of it. "You're hurt..." he mumbled.

"Damn right, I'm hurt! Damn right!"

"Pull over."

"No" she shouted hysterically. "Not with those fuckers coming behind!"

"They're long gone!"

"No!"

"You're going too fast, love! You'll kill us both and my death is not something I..."

"Shut up!"

"Stop, Emma!" he reached for the wheel and jerked it to the side, causing the beetle to turn sideways. Emma took her foot to the pedal and the bug swerved with the tires making their trademark screeching noise. Then they had stopped.

For a few seconds, Emma remained static, her hands grabbing the wheel so hard they were going purple and trying hard to breathe properly.

"Bloody hell." He huffed and ran his now only hand through his hair. He then reached into his coat and produced his old flask, taking a swig and passing it to her. "Easy, darling..." He whispered, gently touching her shoulder. "Easy..."

Regaining her composure, Emma turned teary eyed and tried hard to once again control her breathing. She took the flask from Devlin with a shaky hand and took a sip. "Not too much now..." he spoke soothingly. "There..."

With her mind now under control, she gave the flask back to Devlin and he smiled at her. "You are one maniacal, balmy little lunatic, Swan."

"Yeah, well... I was under pressure." She panted. "Where the hell had you been?"

"Did you miss me?"

"You disappeared and you robbed that... that thing you're wearing from Gold! What the heck are you plotting to do with that?"

"Oh..." he raised the hook and turned it a couple of times as he looked at it. "Nice little article, isn't it? Truth is love, I can't afford a proper prosthetic, so I figured I'd knick this one from him. Always had my eye on it." He looked up at her and reached out to retrieve his flask, took another swig and placed it back in his pocket. "Go on... drive ahead, love. We can't stay here."

"Where?"

"Just up ahead there is a deserted farm house." He sighed. "Quite comfortable, if you don't mind the spiders. I do believe there is a first aid kit there, we have to take a look at your head."

Emma was quiet and angered as she drove on. But at least one thing was right: He was there... and he was alive.


	7. Chapter 7

**Another episode!**

**FFN finally fixed their famous error No. 2. Glad! I needed to keep going!**

**I won't limit myself anymore; this was intended to be a 2 chapter fic and look where it's headed! I practically am rewriting the whole season 1, lol!**

**Thank you all for the likes, follows and reviews!**

Mr. Gold hadn't really enjoyed his time in Storybrooke for a long time. He was hated by most people in town and for good reason; everyone, not just Devlin, owed him something. And he was terribly lonely. There was a rumor that he had a son somewhere in the country, but no one exactly knew his name or whereabouts and no one seemed to even have the inclination to leave town. Except, maybe, for Mr. Gold himself, if only to find his son and explain a whole lot of things to him.

For the time being, however, it was a moot point. He, like everyone else in the town, was unable to leave... and that would remain if Emma didn't find the local rock star before the "other guys" did.

The storm outside was fiercer than many others he had seen in Storybrooke. He paced to the door and lifted the blind slightly, looking at the clouds of wind, dust and nearly horizontal rain as they swept past the streets, funneled like a deadly wind trap. Through the tempest, he made out the figure of a woman, coming close to the shop, her robe-like dress blown against her body and staggering as she covered her face with both arms, long strands of auburn hair blowing violently.

Gold opened the door and had a hard time holding it so it wouldn't be blown away by the storm. "Come on! Hurry!" He shouted for the girl, reaching out. She staggered in his direction and held her hand out, barely grabbing him by the very tips of his fingers. With a single pull he jerked her inside and the girl stumbled in, still holding onto herself.

Gold pulled the door shut with great effort while the icy winds still whistled outside Main Street.

"You poor girl, what are you thinking, going out during such a storm, eh? You wouldn't want a cuppa..."

He was stunned to silence as the girl turned to him. Beautiful blue eyes met his own. She looked disheveled and pale but was still the most beautiful face he'd ever seen. He caught his breath as he once heard that sweet, tender voice he had thought the cold, icy grip of death had taken from him years and years ago.

"A... are you Mr. Gold?" she mumbled in that peculiar accent. "I was told I could come here... told to tell you that... Regina had me committed..."

"Committed..." He whispered through quivering lips.

"Yes." She shrugged shyly. "Does that make any sense to you?"

He paced to her, trembling. Few things ever made him feel weak in the knees... and she was one of them. He nodded.

"So... can you... protect me?" she bit her lower lip.

"Yes..." he smiled, nearly crying. "Yes... I can..." He held her to him, gently, taking care not to hurt or startle her.

He now silently hoped and prayed twice as hard for Emma to get to Devlin. Then... only then, would she remember him.

...

"Here, let me look at that..." Devlin said as he removed some of her blonde strands of hair out of the way. He winced at the sight of the coin-sized bloody gap where hair should have been. "He ripped it all out clean, the bastard... It'll grow back love. We need to clean that up."

He walked around her and looked at the old, dusty emergency kit. Upon opening it and seeing it was empty, he chuckled. "Well, so much for medical supplies. We'll have to do this the old fashioned way..." He looked at her as he tossed the box back. "Lie down, love..."

Emma, still slightly shaken, complied in silence. He tilted her head to the side and he once again produced his flask. "This might sting, Swan. Close your eyes." And without warning, poured some of his rum on the wound.

"Ahh, shit!" she winced.

"Come now, you're a tough lass, I'm sure it's not all that..." He removed his scarf and dried the remains of blood and rum from her head, pressing hard against the wound. "Sit up now, Swan, keep your hand pressed tight against it."

Emma took her hand to the old, battered scarf and sat up, following him with her eyes as he sat in front of her, clasping his hand and hook like he always used to, elbows on his knees. "I knew you'd find me..." He smiled.

She sighed and shook her head. "It won't be long till they do as well, we have to move you out of here..." she pointed her hand at his 'attachment'. "... and we have to return that to Gold."

He smiled and shook his head. "I won't be returning anything to that man, love. He owes me more than I'll ever owe him now."

"Devlin, I can't help you if you break the law..." she pleaded.

Devlin sucked on his lower lip and chuckled. "The law..." he stood and walked to the other side of the room, pulling out dusty blankets and fiercely shaking them before returning to her and placing them at her side. "There is a difference between law and justice, love. The law has been after me forever simply for being who I am... so now..." He sat down again. "I am taking justice into my own hands and making my OWN law, one that I can follow in good conscience without betraying myself of my own code." He leaned in to her. "I find that when I take care of myself, and stop giving a damn about what everyone else wants, I usually get where I want to get."

"That doesn't make it right." She replied seriously. "Come back with me."

He grinned. "Come back? To what?" He shook his head. "To Gold twerking my bolts till I have no more capacity to even breathe? To being some... handicap, hired out of pity in a petrol station?" he pointed at his chest. "I am Captain Hook, leader of the Jolly Rogers! Most of the people in this town know who I am, darling, I won't let go of my ship without a fight."

"That's what I mean, you don't HAVE to fight!" Emma retorted. "You still have that! People are wondering where the hell you are!"

"People..." he spoke under his breath and raised his blue eyes to her. "And you? Have you been wondering as well?"

Emma closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm the sheriff, what do you think? Of course I have, it's my job to..."

"Ah, not good enough." He stood up and knocked the chair back, walking to the mantelpiece and leaning his remaining hand on it.

Emma huffed. "Devlin, what am I supposed to say?"

"The truth!" He shouted at her, pointing his hook at her. "You, of all people, know what it's like to be lied to! You of all people know how it feels to grow alone and not having anyone give a damn! You know what it's like to lose someone you love and you know damn well when a person is trying to lead you astray!" he walked to her and sat before her, almost pleading. "You of all people, the sheriff, have been the only person to see right through me, to know I'm not a bad man... Or wasn't..." He shook his head and looked to the floor. "I can't live like this, at the bidding and waking desire of an avaricious man, just trying to destroy me out of spite. I can't, I feel beleaguered and toiled by it, day in and day out. It's bad form..."

Emma grinned and took her free hand to his hair, touching it gingerly. "I know that. That's why I need you to do the right thing." She nodded. "You're right. I did wonder. I did worry. I like you, Devlin, I really do. But I can't help you if you decide to do something you will regret. Even in your own mind, I'm sure that that...'code' of yours marks a difference between what's right and what isn't. Please..." She begged. "Come with me... We'll figure out a way to deal with Gold. But for now, you have bigger fish to fry."

He sighed and leaned into her thigh. "A man at sea can handle his fish... just what kind of fish are we talking about, darling?"

She huffed. "That gang, for one..."

"Not afraid of them."

"You should be. They're out to get you."

He laughed. "Billy Bones have been after our bill for quite a while, love; Believe me, it's not the first time they've tried to steal our thunder."

"Devlin..." she raised his face to her with her hand. "Regina has Legwood's parole papers. She pretty much has him at her bidding." She swallowed. "They want to hurt you... and me, it seems. This isn't just about band rivalry."

He side grinned. "And you want to go back to that?"

"I do. My son is in the middle of it, my friends!" she frowned. "People I CARE about! I'm not letting them get in the line of fire for my sake."

He thought for a second. "Well, I certainly do have someone I care about." He raised his eyes up at her. "And I'll be damned if I were to leave you to face it alone..." he huffed. "But hear me: should they touch a single strand of your hair again... just one... I will forbear myself no longer."

She grinned and nodded. "They won't."

The storm was still raging outside. Devlin leaned his face on Emma's lap once again and they both remained silent for a few minutes before they spoke again.

"You never answered my query..." he mumbled.

"Which one?"

"Did you miss me?"

She grinned. "I suppose I did."

"Hmm." He breathed, and after a brief pause, mumbled again. "Not a day went by when I didn't think of you..."

"Good." She replied softly, still touching his head.

For the time, and with the storm blowing insanely outside, there was little else for them to do than to just sleep.

...

"I can't understand how there's five of you and two of them and they got away!" Regina hollered.

"They are sneaky..." Legwood retorted." Kragen came at me from nowhere..." He smirked. "But if I can get him face to face, I can and will pulverize him."

Regina walked to him defiantly. "And the Swan girl? What is your excuse for her, is she some sort of ninja or did she dig her nails in a little too hard?"

The tall, dark haired biker growled and turned. "He came at me before I completed the deed."

Regina sighed and sat down in her living room. "I should have taken matters into my own hands when I had the chance."

The man stomped after her, leaving his muddy trail behind him. "If I can get to the wench..." he hissed, "...He will crawl out after her, like the sandworm he is..."

She sneered at the muddy boot prints before taking a hand to her temple. "That won't be too hard now." She glanced at him. "She lives downtown, with that... sap, Mary Margaret. If you wait long enough, it will be very easy for you to take her."

"How?"

"Let's just say..." she narrowed her eyes and grinned. "She'll be catching up on her sleep pretty soon... and how hard can it be for you to just pick up a sleeping woman and take her away?"

The man chuckled. "And then can I have my way with her?"

Regina sneered. "I don't care what you do with her, as long as you take... them... out!"

"So I get the girl... then I get to crush Kragen and the Rogers... and you place us in all the best gigs and make us stars..."

Regina nodded. "That's the plan. You just show me his heart... that all I want. His... heart."

"Literally?"

"Oh yes."

The man side grinned with a vile sneer. "You are one sick-ass bitch... but I'll do it. And what do we get?"

"Well..." she sighed. "My protection. No one will ever know who did it. I might just have someone to pin it on; it is, after all, full moon."

He chuckled. "That's the last time Captain Hook weasels his charming old way into what should be ours..." the other bikers laughed and nodded. "We will be top of the bill, lads!"

...

Mary Margaret hoped she'd be able to keep that smile on her face for days and days to come; all that stopped with a sudden halt when Emma showed up the following morning with unbelievable company.

"Hi..." was all Emma could muster.

Mary Margaret's eyes went from her to Devlin and back to her. "Emma, what's...?"

"I know it looks wrong, love..." he held his hooked limb up, making the young teacher take two steps back. "...but I swear to you on my remaining hand that these arrangements are purely temporary..."

Wide-eyed, Mary Margaret grinned. "Emma... a word?"

Devlin grunted while Mary Margaret pulled Emma into the bathroom. "Okay, which part of "Regina will have your ass" did you not understand?"

"It's gotten much more complicated." Emma whispered. She looked over her shoulder and lowered her voice. "Regina hired a group of thugs to hurt either him or me."

"Wait, are you sure?" Mary Margaret shook her head. "Regina's not my favorite person in the world, but rreally, Emma that's quite an accusation!"

"I trust my gut." She showed Mary Margaret the wound on her head. "They did this. This ... guy, he smashed the window to my car and then tried to rip me out through it by pulling me by my hair."

Mary Margaret winced and took a hand to her mouth. "Oh, God, Emma!"

"He saved me... and he didn't have to."

"Devlin?"

"He's half the size, Mary Margaret, believe me, it took balls to stand up to that other guy!"

Mary Margaret sighed. "But... why would Regina want to hurt him?" She shrugged. "I mean, no offense, I can understand why she'd want to hurt you, but him?"

Emma shook her head. "Crazy stuff. Gold says he's the key to the future of this town and that every bit of torture he's put him through, all his debts and all the things he's had to do for Gold, were made to keep him in Storybrooke... I don't know what this is about, but I do sense that there's more to Devlin than meets the eye."

"What I sense..." Mary Margaret spoke in near a whisper, "Is that Regina and Gold are using you as pawns to get to each other. It's no secret they've been at each other's throats for ages."

"Yeah, why is that?"

"God knows... maybe because Gold for all his crappy treatment of people is probably the only person with enough power to say 'no' to her." Mary Margaret shook her head. "And you think they won't look for him here?"

"Not if I say I'm still out looking for him!"

"He's a friggin' rock star Emma, these things have a way of... spreading! Before you know it we'll have paparazzi hanging from the windows!"

Emma pressed her lips together. "Look, I know it's a liability, but really, he has nowhere to go. The guy just lost his left hand and is marked by a chain gang. Do you really think he'd do any better at Granny's?"

The sudden sound of a smashing cup made both of them leave the bathroom in a hurry. They found Devlin, looking slightly sheepish, holding a kettle in his only hand and a cup shattered on the floor.

"My cup!" Mary Margaret gasped.

Devlin winced. "I'm... awfully sorry there. Some cups do have suicidal tendencies..."

Mary Margaret's shocked demeanor brought a smile to Emma's face. "What are you doing, Dev?"

Devlin chuckled and looked down. "Just... wanted to make tea for everyone... sort of as a way to smoke the pipe of peace."

Emma's heart went out for him. "It's ok, it's only a cup... isn't it Mary Margaret?"

The pretty young brunette closed her mouth and exhaled through her nose. "Yeah. Just a cup. No problem."

Emma walked to him and took the kettle from him. "It'll take you a while to get used to doing things with one hand. So... How do you like it? Your tea, I mean." she turned and produced three cups from the cabinet.

Devlin's saddened eyes lightened up. "Black, if you have it... please. Two sugar and one milk..."

She still had a hard time believing this man was not British.

Mary Margaret grinned at Emma and gave her an understanding nudge. She then turned to Devlin. "Ok... I have basic rules here, and since you're a captain and you know a thing or two about rules, you'll have to abide." She cleared her throat. "Toilet seat? ALWAYS down. No smoking, no smashing things up... aside from my cup, and no loud music played after nine at night. Also, we each wash our own dishes and our own clothes and we don't leave our washed underwear to dry hanging by the shower tap. And above all... no girls! No... Bitches, no groupies, no fans, no crazy rock n' roll drunken binges and debauchery." She swallowed. "Deal'"

Emma grinned at the way Mary Margaret said the word "bitches", shriveling her tiny, pretty little nose. She was clearly out of her element here and her effort to deal with circumstances was indeed appreciated.

He grinned at her and winked his left eye. "Aye-aye, mam."

"Good. That settled, we'll talk about your sleeping accommodations. That couch is far too small, I think..."

Emma cleared her throat.

Dev pressed his lips tight together to stifle a laugh and lowered his widened eyes to the floor. Mary Margaret stared at Emma and her classic shocked expression returned together with a whisper of disbelief. "Noooo..."

"Oh, we'll keep it down, I promise!" He smiled.

Emma shot her eyes at him with a disbelieving frown, and then to Mary Margaret. "We won't 'keep it down' or anything, we'll just... share the bed." She grinned. "No... funny business. Right, Devlin?"

Devlin raised his eyebrow and chuckled. "Right..."

Mary Margaret sighed and shook her head. "Whatever. Emma, if you're making tea, might I have some chamomile?"

Emma nodded and went on to make tea, feeling Devlin's burning stare on her skin as Mary Margaret went upstairs into her room to try and wear the shock away under the benign influence of Grey's Anatomy. Devlin leaned forward. "No... funny business?" He whispered.

She looked at him. "No. At least not while she's here." She winked.

That brought the smile back to Devlin's face. "Well, she really didn't include 'no shagging the pretty blonde tenant' in her little rule book now, did she?"

Emma laughed and fixed tea. After taking a cup up to Mary Margaret, she returned downstairs to find Devlin perusing the fridge. "I think she does have rules about people picking at her food..." she giggled.

"Well, one of us has to go out to get something or order some take out, love, I'm starving..."

"Oh, wait..." she reached into her pocket. "I have this..."

Devlin picked up the bag with his left... hook. "What the bloody hell is this?"

She chuckled. "It's a turnover... or... what's left of it."

He held the bag on the tip of the hook and glared at the slightly crumbled pastry with suspicion. "Bloody hell... Will it bite if I try to eat it?"

She laughed. "Come on, it's all I got."

He looked at her and placed the odd pastry on the kitchen bar. He reached out and pulled her to him by the waist. "A little later, maybe... I can think of other ... edible things..."

"Really?"

"Aye, indeed I can."

"Like what?"

"Well, there's those lovely things, lining the circumference of your mouth, for one..."

She grinned, blushing. "Those might just bite if you try to eat them."

"Oh?" He giggled as he slowly narrowed the distance between their lips. "I suppose It'll be worth it if I take my chances..."

"You have no idea." She smiled back, closing her eyes, and allowed him to gently deposit a kiss, warm, supple and tender. It never ceased to amaze Emma how gentle he could be at that particular skill and yet how longing his touch felt to her. His arm was on her back and she could feel the cold steel of his hook through the silk of her blouse; his body fit in with hers so perfectly it was strange to believe they weren't actually a single person. The slight taste of rum tickled her pallet as he gently prodded her upper lip with the tip of his tongue and with a deep breath, he pulled her to him, the energy of the kiss suddenly shifting from mild and curious to yearning and craving, yet still slow and passionate.

After a few seconds, they pulled apart and he swallowed nervously, rubbing his rough, stubbed cheek against her face, his eyes closed. "You can't begin to imagine how I missed that..."

She grinned, her eyes closed, as she wrapped one arm around his back and another feeling the thick, black tresses of his head between her fingers. She took a step back and ran a hand down his face. "I know you're aching, Dev." She murmured. "I know it can't be easy, with what you have been through. But I need you to trust me; please, you can't go out there and try to get your way with Gold. It's not right."

He touched her cheek with one finger and pressed his lips together with a sigh. "I'll never be free, will I?"

"You will. I'll see to it."

He raised his eyes to her and grinned with a sad glare. "I don't know how to feel about what you're asking from me... but for you, I'll do it."

She grinned and reached out for his hook. He shuddered when she suddenly removed the brace , placing it on the counter and leaving the bandaged remains of his wrist visible. She touched his skin gently, hoping not to hurt him, and then raised her face to meet his visibly uncomfortable expression. With her other hand, she raised his face to hers and smiled kindly when he looked into her eyes. "Try something new, Devlin..." she whispered. "It's called trust."

His expression softened and the sight of a Devlin Kragen who was neither flirty nor cynical appeared before her. He only smiled a wide, perfect smile, and placing his hand on the back of her head, pulled her for another swift kiss, filled with promise, gratitude and... maybe something else. He grinned and nodded. "Perhaps I should call the lads... tell them I'm fine."

"Sure, just... omit your location. We have to keep you a secret as much as we can."

Emma went around the bar and handed him his cup of black tea. "Go on, eat the turnover with this. Call it suppertime."

With a relaxed grin, Devlin reached out for the little plastic container, tipped the crumbling pastry on a plate and took a sip from his tea before biting into the piece of bread.

Emma had her back turned to him. "I'll go to Gold tomorrow... I'll have a word with him regarding your debt. I don't know, maybe we can negotiate a..."

THUD.

When Emma turned, she found Devlin no longer standing, but lying on the floor.

"Dev? DEV!" she ran around and touched his face. It was cold as ice. All sorts of thoughts crossed her mind; a blood clot from his recent operation, perhaps? Some disease he'd picked up at that old cabin? The last thing she wanted was Graham part two.

"MARY MARGARET!" She shouted.

Her friend rushed down the stairs. "What happe... Oh my god, is he ok?"

"Call 911! He's barely breathing!" Emma replied, flustered, holding his dark head in her hands. She caressed his hair. "Don't do this to me Dev, come on..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Another episode!**

**FFN finally fixed their famous error No. 2. Glad! I needed to keep going!**

**I won't limit myself anymore; this was intended to be a 2 chapter fic and look where it's headed! I practically am rewriting the whole season 1 with extra tidbits of 2 and 3, lol!**

**Thank you all for the likes, follows and reviews!**

In the two weeks that had passed since Kragen had been brought in with a terrible hand injury, the hospital hadn't quite recovered from the constant visitation of press and fans wondering if perhaps they had kept a photograph, a record, his robe... So it was quite a blow for the staff to her that he was coming back, and that this time, it seemed even more serious.

Emma and Mary Margaret rode in the ambulance and were both surprised (though not overly shocked) to find crowds of people were already there. News spread fast; Small town indeed. Maybe Mary Margaret had had a point when she had mentioned the liabilities of keeping someone as popular as Devlin Kragen around.

As the ambulance pulled over and orderlies rushed to the ER reception lounge, screaming unfolded and lights started to flash. Emma jumped out of the ambulance and tagged alongside his stretcher as nurses rolled it into the ITU. "Dev! Devlin, can you hear me? Dev!"

A nurse tried to pull her away. "Miss, please, you have to wait outside..."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Emma snapped back before returning to Devlin's paled face.

Whale rushed in with his little light torch in hand. "God, not again..." He moaned as he lifted first one eyelid and then the other, checking for ocular reflexes. "No pupil response..." he sneered, and then looked up at Emma. "What happened? Did he hit his head? Take an overdose?"

Flustered, Emma handed him the remains of the turnover. "He had a bite out of this... I think it's poisoned."

Dr. Whale sneered and checked his airway. "But it's clear, his airway's fine... did he convulse? Shake? Anything?"

"No! He took a bite out of this and collapsed!" She continued to shake the crumbled turnover before Whale's face.

"He is showing no symptoms of poisoning or neurotoxins of any sort!" he replied, equally flustered. "so whatever is going on with him, that thing isn't the culprit!"

"Well, then what the hell could it be?"

"Now he just had a surgery, it could be that there was a clot or something I his bloodstream, or... I don't know... But I will try to find out."

Emma was hyperventilating. "But... he's going to be ok, right?"

Whale rolled his eyes to her. "For the time being we just need to stabilize him... Is there anything else you might remember? Any detail?"

"Well..." she shook her head. "There was that cabin... it was old, dusty, maybe he picked up something in there, mold, bacteria, I don't know!"

"Is that it?"

"Look I told you all I know, now DO SOMETHING!"

"Sheriff Swan, I can understand your frustration, but for the time being, I don't have a clue what it is I'll be treating here! It's like... like..."

She gazed at him and at Devlin, breathing hard. "... like magic..." she whispered.

No sooner had she said it, the colorful imagery flooded her head and visions of an entire lifetime in another land, another time and with other people flooded her eyes, like a 3d film; David and Mary Margaret holding her, with her blanket, running from armor clad guards, placing her in a wardrobe to save her from a curse... visions she had only seen in Henry's book of dwarves, wizards, talking crickets and carpenters who had wooden little boys for kids, fairies, ogres, evil witches, a vile-looking man with golden skin and alligator eyes... and swashbuckling pirates with eyeliner.

She snapped back into reality and gasped, looking at the doctors and nurses as they pumped Devlin full of oxygen. "It's all true..." she whispered amidst the tears of realization. "It's all true..."

She ran out to the lounge and found Mary Margaret sitting, waiting... her mother? Really?

The young brunette stood up and walked to Emma. "Emma! Is he ok? What happened?"

She ran a hand through her blonde, wavy hair. "They don't know... they're trying to stabilize his vitals..." she looked up at her and gave her a sudden hug.

Mary Margaret gasped and chuckled. "Oh... erhm, ok, all right!" she smiled at Emma. "He'll be fine, Emma."

Emma nodded. "Look, I need you to stay here, call me if anything happens. Gold should be here soon, he'll know what to do..." She started to walk quickly out of the hospital.

"Emma! Where are you going?"

"To get my son!" she shouted.

As she pushed past the door, she was met by a barrage of press and lights. The questioning, the shouting and the onslaught of merciless photograph flashes made it somewhat harsh for her to make her way out of the hospital grounds. They prodded, followed, shouted at her... and she could have sworn she even felt someone spit at her.

Once away from the crowds she turned to the quiet street where she shared her apartment with... Snow White, apparently. She looked at the broken glass of her car and shook her head, still trying to convince herself that none of the people she had shared the past months of her live could indeed be fairy tale characters... and that she was one of them!

She jumped into the car and closed the door behind her. She huffed and bit her lip, remembering the characters of the book, one by one. "Killian Jones... Devlin Kragen is... Killian Jones." She sneered. "My god, he really is a pirate..."

She started the engine and sped to Regina's. She parked right outside the tiny gate that led to the massive semi-circular porch, and banged her fist repeatedly on the door. It took Regina about ten seconds to open and was slightly startled at the sight of her, not just because she was actually there, but because Emma pushed past her into her home. "Henry!" she called. "Henry!"

"Miss Swan, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Shut up!" Emma spat back at Regina and continued calling for Henry, until he peeked his funny freckled face from the top of the railing.

"Emma?" He smiled "What are you doing here?"

Catching her breath, Emma looked up at him and smiled. "You were right, kid... about everything. It's all real..." From the corner of her eye, Emma saw how Regina's face went from anger to astonishment. "I saw it. I saw it all, Snow White and Charming, the wardrobe made from magic oak, the Pirates, the curse... I believe it all."

"Great!" Henry nodded. "Then we can defeat Long John Silver and you can break the curse!"

Emma's face fell, thinking of her very own pirate in the E.R. . "Get some of your stuff, Henry, we'll talk about it in the car."

"Wait, what?" Regina sneered.

"Oh, I'm all set!" Henry disappeared for less than a second and returned with a backpack and his book, speeding downstairs. "Let's go!"

Regina stopped him by the shoulders. "But Henry..." she tried to smile. "You can't! I just..."

"No." he moved away from her. "You are the Evil Queen! You always have been and you always will be evil!"

"Don't say that!" she scorned, visibly hurt.

"Well, prove it!" he retorted. "Until you do, I am going to be with my mom and Mary Margaret." Having said this, he walked out of the house and ran to Emma's car.

Emma began to turn tail and walk away, when she was stopped by Regina's words. "You'll pay for this, Miss Swan..."

Without warning, Emma turned and jumped on her, pushing her against the far wall and holding her forearm to her neck. "NO I WON'T! That apple turnover you gave me, Devlin ate it! HE ATE IT!"

Regina looked startled. "No... No! It was meant for you!"

Emma released her, grabbed her from her jacket lapel and slammed her again. "Why? WHY?"

"Because as long as you're alive, Henry will never be mine!" Regina shouted back at her, tears of her own already welling down her face.

"Well, if I'm the one you want, why the HELL are you going after Devlin? WHY?" She shook her. "You hired that band, that gang of ruthless, heartless bastards, they chased us! They are still chasing us! WHY?"

"TO GET TO YOU!" Regina finally pushed Emma back.

"Well, you did this, you're the one that can fix him. Wake him up!"

"I can't!"

Emma caught her breath and swallowed. "Don't you... have magic?"

Regina sighed three times and looked to the floor, shaking her head. "That was the very last of it."

Emma turned around her axis once, hand in her hair, tears running down her cheeks. "What's it going to do to him?"

Regina bit her lower lip. "I really don't know... magic is pretty unpredictable here."

"So... he could just... die?" Emma sobbed. After Regina nodded, the blond girl staggered backwards and once again looked at her. "So what do I do?"

Regina huffed and walked to her living room. "Since you already won and you have Henry, I really don't see why I should answer that. But in light of that last opinion my son just blurted out, I will." She looked at Emma. "You need help. There is one other in person in town, one who knows about magic... one who's always known."

It didn't take Emma more than a second to put two and two together. "Mr. Gold."

"Actually..." Regina retorted. "...he goes by the name of Rumplestiltskin."

"Rumplestiltskin?" she replied, wide-eyed. "Really?"

Regina nodded. "He's been watching over the pirate from the day Storybrooke first came to be. He's known of this day from the beginning. The curse... was of his making; I only cast it. He should know what to do."

Without as much as a thank you, Emma turned and left the house, leaving Regina in a mess of tears in her living room.

...

Upon returning to the hospital, Emma and Henry thought they'd have a hard time getting past the crowds. Small as the apparently sleepy town may have been it still held quite a powerhouse of rock n' roll fans, it seemed, and they all went insane when Emma and Henry made their apparition. What had been the cabin rendezvous had become known to everyone, much like had happened to Mary Margaret when it was heard about her affair with David. Only in Emma's case, it was like having a gold backstage pass: The people moved aside, almost in acknowledgement that this blond bombshell (who also happened to be sheriff) was probably the rock idol's one and only.

As they passed through the one relentless crowd of press agents, Emma was met in the front lounge by a very somber Mary Margaret. Mr. Gold sat there, one hand on his cane and the other covering his face. Emma walked, panting energetically, to Mary Margaret.

"So?" she gasped for air. "Any news?"

"Oh, Emma..." Mary Margaret shook her head.

It took Emma one second to put two and two together. She turned to Rumplestiltskin and cried out. "Look at me!"

The withered man looked at her with a sad gaze. "Miss Swan."

"I know of you." She sneered, feeling tears sting her own eyes. "Regina says you're the most powerful wizard anywhere..." a single tear finally left her right eye. "Save him!"

"I cannot." He shook his head. "I know not what particular spell he is under. And even if I did, the deed is done. He is gone. No spell can bring the deceased back to life." He raised his eyes to her, also welled in tears. "This whole curse... it was made for a single purpose: To enable me to find my boy... your rock n' roll boy was supposed to be your... well, whatever he was supposed to be, he was the key. But he's gone. She's won. We're all trapped, forever... I failed."

The whole world slowed down in Emma's head and for a second she could swear she could see everything moving past her in slow motion. She walked upstairs to the E.R. lounge and was met by the saddened face of Dr. Whale. She looked at him, expectantly, but was met with the dour face of sheer disappointing despair. "We tried everything, Emma, did everything we could. We're so sorry."

Barely breathing, she walked past him to where the nurse removed the breathing aid from his now lifeless albeit still beautiful face. Emma exhaled hard and managed to take a single glimpse at the monitor beside him... all in flat lines, a second before it was turned off. He looked drawn, white and moreover, lifeless. The images of the past few days played unstoppably in her head: smiling, grinning, laughing, kissing and touching, singing her song with that beautiful, velvety voice; The winks that caught her breath, the fluttering of miles of eyelashes that shaded the bluest eyes she'd ever seen, that spark, that vitality that she had tasted only a few hours before, the powerful laughter, the soft touch of his hand on her face and the feel of his lips, yearning, soft and completely hers, his energy passing onto her during a single night, making love by a warm fireplace... all were gone. He was gone. What remained was only the beautiful vessel of what had been Devlin Kragen... Or Killian Jones... Or Captain Hook... or all.

She slowly stepped to him, the tears taking a life of their own and the knot in her throat unavoidably coming undone, making her feel as if she had swallowed a baseball. She reached him and touched his face: Ice cold, rigid, lifeless... and the sob finally found its way out of her lips, those same lips that not so long before had been all his own.

"Oh no..." she sniffed, mussing the short, black tresses from his forehead. "I failed you. I failed everyone. I am so... so sorry, Dev. I was too scared... to come to grips with this whole thing. But now... there's nothing left." She ran a finger across his bushy, black eyebrow, now sitting softly still above the shut eyelid that concealed the infinite blueness of his once lively eye. She sobbed again, her lower lip quivering uncontrollably, and she leaned over, whispering into his oddly-shaped ear. "I don't know why... but you are taking my heart with you... wherever you go." She migrated her lips directly over his. "Rock star, pirate, whatever you are..." She grinned and whispered. "I love you, Killian Jones..."

And amidst the tears that fell from her eyes to his face, she placed a gentle, soft kiss on his now barren, unresponsive lips.

It took less than a second, but Emma could have sworn it was minutes before she felt a mild tickling on her lips... and the breath that followed them, flooding her own nostrils, caught her completely off guard. She could have been dreaming... she didn't move, wondering if perhaps she was losing her mind. But when he suddenly drew breath and gasped for air, she definitely took a step back.

A shockwave of color emanated from him as his eyes followed the light, wide open and blinking. He caught his breath while everyone in the town was touched and bathed by the colors of the energy that had suddenly dissipated throughout Storybrooke.

She stared at him in awe, lips slightly parted, waiting for him to see, to look, to say anything. Still breathing hard, he turned his head slowly to her, and that smile she thought she'd never see again, returned suddenly. "Swan..." He whispered. "You did this... you saved my life..."

"What the fuck..." she managed to mumble, thinking she would very probably pass out any second.

"True love's kiss!" Came Henry's voice. Emma turned and saw her little boy smiling, holding his book. "I think you did it, Emma! I think you broke the spell!"

"That... she did. Quite observant of you, lad!" He sat up and then turned to look at her. "And you... Emma Swan..." He smiled at her and reached out his hand, which she promptly grasped. "... you can't begin to fathom how much I love you... Savior..."

She laughed and allowed herself to fall back into his arms, that warm embrace that in spite of having been hers only once, she had grown to love to the point of not knowing how she had made it so far through life without it. She held his face with both her hands and he cupped hers with his right in response.

"I no longer know what to call you..." She chuckled a teary laugh.

"Devlin... Killian... Hook... any will do, Swan." He replied, before landing a quick and playful peck on the tip of her nose. "As long as it is you calling any of my names, I'll abide..."

"Can we comfortably throw the 'dashing rapscallion' thing out the window?"

"Well there IS that!"

She laughed and jumped around his neck, kissing him hard. "Don't ever fucking die on me again..." she grunted.

He chuckled. "What you said... about me taking your heart... did you mean it?"

She grinned and nodded. "I know it's insane, I know I've known you like a month, but..."

"It matters not, darling. It's all because it was meant to be..." He kissed her intently one more time before sliding his legs out from under the hospital sheets. He huffed at the sight of the hospital gown and his bare legs. "If you don't mind, I'd like my clothes, please?"

After dressing up, he followed Emma and stood face to face with Gold. A cheeky, challenging grin escaped his lips. "I will deal with you some other time... crocodile..."

Gold returned the challenge. "I'll be waiting, Captain Jones. But for the time being..." he shook his head cockily. "You might need your sword and since your wakening and Miss Swan's breaking of the curse have placed me in a particularly good mood, I'll inform you that it sits behind the cash register in my shop." And as Killian pushed past him, thumping his shoulder, Gold produced a loud grin and a cackle he only heard himself. "I'm counting on it, dearie..."

The crowds outside, now dazed from the memories coming back, looked at the pirate captain with a combination of awe for the man whom had been the only real rock star in town and a slight apprehension at the memory of his reputation as one of the fiercest Pirate captains of all times. Emma paced at his side and daringly grabbed his right hand in her left. The people trusted her and she figures that this way, they might get to see the Devlin Kragen she knew... the real Killian Jones, as opposed to a cutthroat bandit. He gripped her hand hard and spoke. "Where's my hook, love?"

"In the car..." She released him and ran to her bug, pulled out the appendage through her broken window, and ran back to hand it to him. With a mild scuff, he cleverly strapped it back in place and looked at it with a smile. "Ah, a thing of beauty! Who needs a hand when you can have a hook..." he turned his eyes to Emma. "All of him..." he added with a wink.

Emma grinned and shook her head. He was practically the same guy; same character, same body language... except maybe this guy had a history of slaughtering people, robbing, kidnapping and trafficking in rare objects. But all the same, any man could be redeemed, or so claimed Mary Margaret... her mom. Snow White. And that would probably make David... well, Prince Charming! Wow. Her parents were practically her age. NOT the family reunion she had envisioned her entire life, but hey, it could have its perks...

She had to put aside the nagging thought of putting her family tree together to focus on the current events. "So... What now?"

He placed his hooked arm around her shoulders and kept walking. "First, we retrieve my belongings from Rumplestiltskin's business. I need my sword, my spyglass and my whistle."

"Whistle?"

"Aye. Need to summon me crew..."

"Wait... crew? You're going somewhere?"

As they turned around the corner, his gaze was fixed on the distance and a smile shone on his face as he lifted a brow up and pointed his head in the direction his eyes were set. "Just want to get her ship shape..."

Emma turned. That thing hadn't been there before... but now it was. In the place where Devlin's small boat used to be, now sat a large, proud, XVIIth Century clipper, a pirate ship in all its glowing glory, sails lifted and the infamous skull and crossbones flag proudly whipping the air under the gusting wind.

"Holy shit..." she whispered.

"She's a beauty, isn't she?" He stood by her side. "My loyal love... The Jolly Roger."

"And she really sails?" Henry asked, eyes wider than dinner plates.

Hook looked down at him. "That she does, my boy, every bit at that. And after we finish this battle, I will personally instruct you how to sail her..."

"COOL!" Came Henry's response.

"Wait..." Emma stood before him. "We have other issues right now! That gang is still out there!"

Seriousness returned to Hook's face. "Aye... Long John Silver and his crew... an old foe." He looked at her defiantly. "Listen, Swan: I want you to take your boy and go to the Jolly. I will send some of me crew men to guard you both; I must fight Silver on my own..."

"Hey, hey!" she shook her head. "Enough with the patronizing! I thought you'd said I'd make a hell of a pirate!"

He side grinned. "That you do, lass. And I did." He leaned in and kissed her hard. "You're a tough negotiator, Swan... Can you wield a sword?"

"I'm a fast learner."

He nodded and then went down to be at the boy's eye level. "Listen to me lad. Go to your mother's home, stay indoors... and let nobody in. Nobody."

"But I wanna help!" replied the little boy.

Killian smiled from ear to ear and caressed the boy's head. "You have done so already, lad. More than you'll know. Now if you want to help some more, you'll let me deal with these scoundrels. I know them... and you know about it better than I." He winked at Henry, who seemed satisfied with the answer.

He turned to Emma. "I'll see you at Mary Marga... at Snow White's loft... mom."

Emma laughed and hugged him. "Take care, kid. Do keep everything locked."

The boy ran off in the opposite direction and Hook stared at Emma. "The lad takes his passion from you, Emma." He touched her face with a finger. "He will be a fine man when he grows..."

She grinned and nodded. "Come on... we have a town to save..."

He simply smiled and nodded, clasped her hand in his, and led the way to Gold's shop, emerging a few minutes later with his things and a saber for her. He smiled, took the whistle to his lips and blew.

One by one, from the crowds that were starting to scatter, some men began to close in around them, lining up under the sound of "Aye, aye, sir!"... Five of them Emma recognized as his band, the Jolly Rogers.

Hook sighed with joy and paced before his men. "Aye, aye, you mangy gutter rats! Twenty eight years, we've been here living like hens, now who among you yearns for a little bit of a scuffle?"

The whole crew shouted in return. "Well then, you pathetic excuses for sailors, get to the Jolly Roger's armory, because tonight, we have that chance... the chance to have our long standing foe, Long John Silver, sliced and tossed into Davy Jones' locker from the Roger's plank! Who wants to join me?"

Another loud roar.

"Well, what are you waiting for, lads? Dismissed! Go! Be back at this spot at oh-three hundred and not a minute late if you're not willing to walk the plank yourselves!"

The men cheered in unison "Captain Hook! Captain Hook! Captain Hook!", and then rushed like a pack of wolves to the ship that bobbed on the Storybrooke pier.

Emma bit her lower lip. This was very much like watching a Disney movie... only for real. She was startled by the feel of his hand on her waist. "Now Sheriff, you are the supreme ruler of this town, and I do play in good form, so..." he twirled her hair with his hook. "...any rules to follow?"

"Can you try to deliver that guy to Jail and not... slice him and make him... walk the plank?"

He side grinned. "The men will protest... but aye. It can be arranged. So... your deal is for us to defeat them, but alas, not... kill them."

"Yah! That's it, precisely!"

He pulled her to him. "Aye, aye, mam... You have my word." and kissed her again.

She smiled. "You run a tight ship, Captain..."

"Well, my love, we're pirates... you can imagine the risk of mutiny if I don't..."

"Have you ever really... made anyone walk the plank?"

"Aye..." he replied non-chalantly. "Sharks are loyal friends, they must be fed if they are to continue at our bidding..."

Emma stood before him. "Any chance you might want to not do that anymore? Killing people, I mean?"

His smile disappeared, but he simply fiddled with the zipper of her jacket. "For you?"

"Yeah... for me."

He nodded softly. "Aye. But mark my words... should anyone come near you and try to harm you, your boy or anyone you deem worthy of your love, I shan't be withheld..."

The moment was suddenly cut by the sound of motorbikes ripping through the streets and people running and screaming... only now there were certainly more than five. At least thirty Harleys paraded the area. A whole crew.

Hook turned his face and scowled. "Long John..."


	9. Chapter 9

**First off, an apology for the delay; I am in the middle of a VERY stressful exam period so I do apologize for taking so long in finishing this delivery. It's angsty! warning: Pain ahead.**

The people of Storybrooke had no idea what to make of the events unfolding before them. Two gangs of pirates invading the previously sleepy and uneventful streets of their tiny little town were indeed testimony of the fact that the spell had been broken and that that didn't necessarily mean everything was perfect now.

Captain Hook and his crew had been deemed one of the fiercest pirate gangs of the realms, albeit definitely not the only one. It was, however, the oldest and most experienced, if one can consider Piracy an art to be perfected. Killian Jones hadn't always been a pirate; he had before been a well reputed Naval Lieutenant, second in command to Captain Liam Jones, his beloved brother. Both had been the pick of the crop of the kingdom and more than one heart was broken by the handsome brothers' chivalry, courteousness and charm. Liam had a smile that could melt the ice caps while Killian's eyes conquered many a young soul; but both had been gentlemen of the utmost sort, a fine pair of eligible bachelors that made every unwed woman of the realm daydream and swoon.

When Liam died due to Dreamshade poisoning, Killian just about lost it. He mourned his older brother for months, not before declaring mutiny against the King and his armies. The vessel called The Jewel of the Realm was aptly named The Jolly Roger, and while he had definitely become unhinged by grief, his crew loved him enough to follow him in to the ends of every realm the name of his late brother. So pirates they became.

There was a hefty price on Killian's head after the deed, but his expertise as the best Lieutenant and now Captain, as well as the numerous tools he employed made him a formidable adversary; Not to mention that in spite of his newly acquired villainous status, he maintained his charm and chivalry, not to mention an inexorable conduct code which he and his men strictly followed. There was no pier or harbor who didn't know and love the handsome, rugged pirate and his merry crew of rascals. He was a fun man to be with, a fierce, loyal friend and, many besotted women claimed, an outstanding lover. He never failed to fairly compensate those who favored his path and always remembered the names of all he met. All the same, he ran a tight ship. His crew, despite the status of piracy they had gained, were never the mangy, dirty sort, and he took great care to have a decently recognizable image that people would know, regardless of what realm they were in.

Even so, all those who loved Hook and all his crew also knew that it was never wise to double cross the handsome, charming young scoundrel; the plank of the Jolly Roger had more mileage than the ship itself. Hundreds had been known to elevate their final prayers from the tip of the wooden slab and had served as fish food.

But aside from the dreaded plank, not too much had been different from his rock star life; he was loathed by some and loved by most, was desired by many a young girl and envied by the boys, he maintained his rocker lifestyle of debauchery... until Emma had come to break the spell.

Now he was someone he didn't even remember he had once been... Killian Jones. Standing in the middle of Main Street, hook in one hand and sword in the other, Killian was slowly realizing that in spite of his 300 plus years of piracy shenanigans, he no longer felt like the fearsome Captain Hook of the seven seas. He kept his lips pressed together tight, trying to build up his adrenaline and remember the thrill of the fight, concealing from Emma and anyone else that he was actually shaking, not out of fear for himself, but fear for Emma. It had been twenty-eight years since he had last enjoyed a decent swashbuckling swordfight and he knew that regardless of the time, he could very well still hold his own, but the new love of his life, albeit resilient and strong-willed, had never really fenced.

One cannot return to the old idealisms of the past when time has offered solace in maturity and love.

He clenched his ringed right hand tight around the handle of his sword as Long John climbed off his bike and paced to him. What had been the notorious scar across his face was now a thunder-shaped tattoo. Killian took three steps towards him.

"Well, well..." He smiled cheekily. "Time has been unkind to you, Silver... Alas, not all of us can remain dashing forever, so I offer you my sympathies..." He shrugged. " Not that you ever were much of a looker..."

Long John paced his limping pace with an angered grin. "Sympathy... it is no thanks to you I bear this scar, Hook..."

Hook grinned and tilted his head to the side. "... and the wooden leg, but that was a freebie... Jonathan Legwood."

The Crew of the Jolly Roger laughed and Emma scowled. The towering pirate took a long look at her and chuckled wickedly. "Bringing your wench along to fight your battles is bad form there, Jones..."

"This 'wench' can hold her own, buddy." Emma replied, holding out her sword to his face. "... and she happens to be the Sheriff too, so I'd watch it."

Silver's crew laughed. "Aye, she's got bigger balls than her boyfriend, mates!" He turned back to her and limped in her direction, holding on to his belt buckle with one hand. "It would be a pity to poke a hole into her... with a sword that is; otherwise, it would be a pleasure..."

Emma raised an unimpressed eyebrow and grinned sideways. "Yeah? I'd like to see you try."

Silver winced. "Oh, your lover might feel a bit sore about that, m'lovely..."

Killian walked to him and placed the tip of his sword under Long John's chin. "The only sore one here will be you when I jab my sword into your groin, should you even dare think of touching her... although..." He shrugged with a condescending scuff, "...knowing her gumption and your complete lack of wit, I'm sure she can wield that sword better than you. "

Long John nodded and readied his sword. "Well, we will have to see about that, now Hook..." He took his stance. "Lest I beat you, take your ship, your life... and your harlot for my own enjoyment."

"You will try..." Hook smiled back and readied himself.

Emma stood back as the two ring leaders engaged in the first blow. Long John, for a wooden-legged man was incredibly powerful and heavy handed while Hook, albeit noticeably weaker in his delivery, was swift, agile and terribly cunning. The clanking of the two metal blades had the two gangs of pirates cheering for each of their captains and had Emma sweating cold.

Hook jumped atop the hood of a car and managed to leap as Long John delivered a fast and powerful swing that would have cost him both feet. As the younger rocker landed back on the floor, he tried to deliver a backhand with his hook before pushing Long John and shifting his weight to the other side. The crowd began to grow. This was not just a pirate scuffle any longer; In spite of now remembering who Devlin Kragen really was, he was still the same guy who had given many young people in Storybrooke tremendous rock n' roll and was admired by many. It was safe to say the whole town, or at least most of it, was rooting for their one handed Devlin.

"You haven't lost your form, I see, Hook..." Silver held his arms open. "Dare I say you even got a little bit better..."

"And I am still full of surprises, mate!" Hook laughed back and delivered the next clashing fall of the sword.

Emma stood by, holding her sword in her hand, waiting for the two leaders to signal for the epic battle to begin; but for the time being she could not take her eyes off Devlin's feet. He was incredibly fast and many blows he was able to avoid thanks to the dexterity of his limbs. But when Long John's blade tip nearly took his head, she almost lost her own footing. Devlin managed to cock his head back in time to only get slightly nicked by the right side of his nose. He stopped the fight and took his hand to his face, gingerly touching the wound with his fingertips and looking at the blood on them before raising his eyes at his foe with a grin. "Well, look at that!" He once again assumed his stance. "Looks like you might have a chance at getting me... Slight one, petty, but... a chance nonetheless."

Long John circled around Hook. "Well, let's make use of it!"

"With pleasure!"

And they once again engaged in fight.

The crowd had really gathered by now and although Emma was beginning to sense she might not need to fight, she did know she would have to take care of the people and lead them to safety should Hook fail... NOT an option, she thought to herself with a quick shake of her head, and she made her way around the multitudes. "Ok, people, move along, we don't need this as well!"

Long John had Hook pressed against a car and had his blade to his throat while Devlin tried to pry him off with his hook. Both men shook with the raw power of adrenalin and Long John noticed his enemy was trying to find his love through the corner of his eye. He cackled and bit his lower lip.

"So, it's true... you ARE, as they say, very much smitten, aren't you, Jones?" He laughed aloud. "Well well, who would have thought a heartless, selfish arsehole such as yourself would have any space left in that stone heart of yours for the love of a wench."

"Which is more than what I can say for you, Mate." Hook spat back.

"Well... Once I lay your filthy remains deep in Davy Jones' locker..." He hissed into Hook's ear. "Do you know what I will do with your sweet lady Emma, Killian?" The young, handsome pirate's eyes shot directly into his. "At nights, I will tie her hands... " He whispered, licking his lips. "I will taste her skin with my tongue and her flesh with the rest of my body until she gets a nosebleed; in the mornings she will clean the deck of your ship for me... with YOUR shirts, on her knees..." Hook clenched his jaw tight and stared him in the eye. "... and when I'm done, when I'm sated with the harlot, I will gut her, feed her innards to the sharks and make new sails out of her skin and hair, so that even in death, you will always look up from the depths and see that your beloved Swann will forever be in my power..."

"Nice plan..." Hook hissed between clenched teeth. "Except that you have to actually kill me first... "He winked with a smile. "...and that's not going to happen."

"Really? How so?"

"Because of THIS!"Hook shouted and, after swiftly taking Silver's dagger from his belt with his free hand, he dug it swiftly into the upper part of Silver's thigh, just over the spot where the flesh ended and the wood began. Long John howled and Devlin broke free, taking his sword back from the floor with a swift kick and then around his enemy's neck. "Now, as for you..." He whispered into Long John's ear. "You must remember we are no longer in the enchanted Forest... Here, you will go to the State Penn... where loads of randy jailbird pirates will be delighted in carrying out the devious, twisted schemes you thought for Emma... on YOUR arse!" He turned his face over to Emma and summoned her with his head.

Emma ran to the spot and produced her handcuffs. "You know your rights?" She mumbled.

"And my wrongs too, darling bird..." He chuckled.

"Good." She gave him a pull. "Then I'm sure you won't mind spending time with an overly friendly roommate. Come on..."

The man limped over and smiled at Emma, raising his handcuffed hands to muse her hair. "I'll give you one chance at this, girl. Let go off me."

"Erhm... no?" She huffed with a scorn as she led the massive man away.

Devlin walked a few meters' distance behind her, holding his sword out and looking at everyone as he spoke. "The Jolly Roger is MY ship! Anyone who disagrees is kindly welcome to face me and give it a go, walk the plank or follow your former captain to the brigs!" He took another turn. "Those who wish to remain with me, are not only welcome as crew, but are all cordially invited at the Rabbit Hole tomorrow night to hear us play and help me pay out the debt we have at the Rabbit Hole. Now... who will swear allegiance and who will walk the plank?"

A hesitant but subdued 'Silver' crew raised their arms and shouted "Captain Hook!" in unison.

Silver sneered in their general direction before turning his face back front.

As Emma was about to put Silver's head under to get into the patrol, the feeling of searing pain took over as he suddenly kicked her shin with his wooden leg with unbelievable strength. Emma bent over with a grunt and Silver swiftly managed to place his handcuffed hands in front of his own body; He ripped the keys from Emma and after liberating himself from the modern-day shackles, he leaned down to the ached girl on the floor. "Thought you could be a pirate, eh lass? " He smiled and touched her face. "Well... not today." He delivered a single punch to her left cheek, rendered her unconscious and after picking her up, he threw her in the back of the car.

By the time Devlin turned to look, he only managed to see Silver getting into the driver's seat. With a terribly distraught furrow, he rolled his alarmed eyes from one end of the street to the other, looking for his Swan... but Emma was gone.

Alarmed, he sprinted towards the car, desperately shouting her name; He only managed to reach enough to barely scrape the trunk with his hook as the car sped away through the street. He stood, panting and feeling the world fall on his shoulders. His mind was mercilessly showering him with images of the dreadful scenario Long John had described to him regarding Emma only minutes ago and the sudden idea of her in a helpless stance as he viciously ravaged her made him cringe hard. Emma was the toughest girl he'd ever met and he knew she'd probably put up a hell of a good fight, but she was certainly neither invulnerable nor impervious to pain; the mere thought of his Emma with an injury, with his hands on her skin, or his breath on her ear and... well, everything else, made him feel as if someone had set a bonfire to his heart and poured gasoline into his stomach to further fuel the fire.

He turned, his face darkened by hatred and fueled by his determination to find his love before his enemy got away with his plan at any cost, he yelled. "Many here know where Silver has his lair! I know of it! Now, you have sworn a pledge to your new Captain! Who here will dare hide the location of his whereabouts from me? Because, I will have you know, there will be no mercy shown to whomever dares conceal this information from me, should anything happen to Emma! Now, who will kindly come forward?"

There was a mild hesitation before a boy, no older than twelve, took three steps towards Hook. "I know of it, sir..." He bit his lip.

"Good lad." Devlin walked to him. "Where is he?"

"I must have your word you won't harm him before I utter the exact location, Cap'n..." The boy spoke.

Devlin chuckled and nodded. "You are courageous, boy, I will say that. But believe me when I say I have no compunction in getting it out of you by force." He placed his face an inch away from the boy's nose. " And I don't particularly enjoy lacerating little boys' faces, so once again, I will ask nicely. Where.. is... he?"

The child's knees rattled. "Pl... please, sir... you must promise..."

Hook grabbed the boy by his lapel and shook him, raising his hook in the air, and staring fiercely into the terrified eyes of the child, he shouted an ached and devastating holler. "WHERE IS HE? SPEAK OR LOSE YOUR EYES!"

The people stared in shock horror as the boy's legs nearly gave way. "So have my eyes then, Cap'n... He's my father and I do not will him dead! That, or utter your word that you shall not slay my father!"

The look in Devlin's eyes softened as he lowered his hook slowly; The boy was probably just a year older than Henry, probably as old as Baelfire when he had been in his charge. He ran his good hand through his hair and pressed his lips together, shaking his head in shame before looking back into the boy's eyes. "You, my lad, have greater courage than I have seen in any man. You have taught me a valuable lesson and now I am twice the man I was where a boy can teach an old soul such as I. I apologize for my rudeness to you..." He crouched down enough to be at eye level with the child. "What's your name m'boy?"

"Tim, sir."

"Tim..." Hook side grinned. "Well, Tim, much the same way you love you father, I love the woman he has in his watch. If I do not get to him in time, he will hurt her... very, very badly. Please, m'boy, I beg of you... Tell me where he is and should I arrive before he injures my lady, you have my word that I shall not kill your father. But you must understand, if he has hurt my love, he will have to be held accountable for his actions..."

The boy swallowed. "Fair enough, Sir." He nodded. "He is in the south forest, just off the highway. There is a cave, a large cave. We have dwelled there since the curse began. That's where "Billy Bones" rehearsed and lived. He has likely taken your woman there... Please, do stop him. I love my father, but I have seen what he is capable of doing; I do not wish for Sheriff Swan to be hurt!"

Hook grinned and ruffled the boy's hair. "Thank you, lad." He turned to the rest of the now massive crew. "I need me five able bodied men to join their Captain! This is indeed a rescue mission, lads, so, who shall it be?"

The first to volunteer was Smee, followed by his other two bandmates, Daggerball and Deadweight McKeen. The fourth came in the shape of a man named Edward Flint, who happened to be the son of the captain Silver had slain to obtain control of the crew of The Mathew, the clipper they had sailed for years before the Royal Navy (then led by precisely the Jones Brothers before Killian turned to the crimson flag) sank her into the depths of the ocean. Finally, the boy, Tim, was his final volunteer. Much as Hook hated the thought of taking a child into battle, but he figured that perhaps the sight of his boy might help in catching Silver without the need for violence.

He wanted to tear out his other limb... but he was a man of his word.

"Cap'n, your bike is just around the corner." Smee spoke as he walked alongside his vocalist. "We will ride on a couple of the bikes of Silver's crew. We'll meet you at Troll's... I mean, Toll's Bridge at oh-one hundred. "

"Good form, Smee." He spoke as he turned around the corner, followed by the five. He then turned to the boy. "You'll ride with me, lad, and lead the way."

"Aye aye, sir..." The boy nodded back.

...

"Shit..." She mumbled. Or she thought she mumbled. It took her a few seconds to realize she had only mumbled in her mind; her mouth had been duct-taped. As her senses started to kick in one by one, she felt the burning sensation of her hands stinging from poor blood flow. It took only a mild tug for her to notice that her wrists had also been duct taped together, as had her feet.

She frowned, realization slowly dawning on her. Much of her life had been dedicated to finding people on the run, so she didn't take long to realize that she was in the trunk of a car, more accurately, the patrol she had been... kidnapped in? What? She had been kidnapped? When she was a Bail Bondsperson she had been exposed to all sorts of shit; she had been followed, grabbed, threatened... but kidnapped? How was it possible that chasing down and tricking crooks into believing they would get lucky to bust their asses had never even gotten her close to such a complicated pickle? She was now in the trunk of a car, tied up with duct tape and waiting to be , tortured, killed or maybe worse by a seventeenth century pirate who, by the way, had until that day been nothing more than a literary creation by Lewis Carroll.

"Really?" She thought as she tried to pry one hand free, pulling, tugging and wriggling. It was hard but she was getting there.

The sound of footsteps heading her way alarmed her to the point of making her wrist bleed from struggling to free herself. She squinted as the trunk opened and allowed the light into the car... had night been through already? It took Emma a few seconds that, behind the dark and overpowering image of Long John Silver stood a tall standing street lamp. The sound of the forest night bugs was unmistakable; it was still the middle of the night.

Silver grinned at her and touched her cheek. "So pretty..." He grunted. "Let's see what made the Captain's world rock, now, shall we?"

She tried screaming through the duct tape as he shoved one arm into the trunk and swung her over his shoulder with unbelievable ease. With his other hand, he pushed the car into a ditch and made his way through thick woodland. Emma's hair hung over his shoulders and in spite of her inner strength and fire, the feeling of his hand on her backside as he carried her served as an alarming prequel for things to come. Growing up in the foster system had more than once exposed her to abusive adults and she had always had the upper hand. But she knew what was coming... and was tied up.

In spite of her real as life Princess status, she hated the idea of being the damsel in distress. That was Mary Margaret... wait, her mom. And even she had a fair amount of gumption. The feeling of vulnerability as the man slumped her down on an old, smelly mattress didn't help her infuriating feeling of helplessness any. She could see little; it smelled like moss and grass and the trademark sound of water dripping made her pretty sure it was a cave; it had to be the south caves.

She tried to wiggle her way off the mattress, but Long John pilled her down with his foot. "Going somewhere, love? The party's about to start..." He took off his jacket and shirt and she was able to see his entire body was covered in tattoos. "I wouldn't like to leave any woman unattended, now would I?"

He went down on his knees over her duct-taped legs and from the back pocket of his jeans, he produced a knife. He was heavily seated on her thighs as he reached back with one hand and cut the duct tape from her ankles. Instantly, she started to kick about but even the span of her long limbs wasn't enough to hit anything. From his vantage position, Long John smiled and grasped her left breast with his right hand. Emma squirmed out of the way, but he responded with another slap, hard enough to make her dizzy for ten seconds.

"Now, this can happen in one of two ways, my girl..." he growled, looking into her now tearing eyes. "You can either let it be, or I'll have to beat you to a pulp before I fuck each and every orifice in your body, which I'm about to do either way. It's entirely up to you." He ran his knife gently down her face. "It would be a shame if I had to harm you further... such a pretty face..." he then pressed it to her neck. "Such a pretty woman..."

There was no longer any point to deny it nor had she any strength left in her to do so: She was scared out of her mind. She shook her head, tears welling and sliding down her face as he grinned at her, leaning in to sink his tattooed face into her neck. "That's a good girl..."


	10. Chapter 10

**Final chapter!**

**Thanks all who followed, liked and faved! It was fun to do this!**

As Devlin and his five volunteers were pulling out of Main, they were intercepted by a brown pick-up truck.

The handsome rogue yanked to a halt and grunted as David Nolan climbed down from behind the wheel with Mary Margaret in tow. His massive blue eyes scowled from underneath thick, dark eyebrows and he grinned a sarcastic grin.

"Where is she?"

"She?"

David pulled him off the boike and held him by his lapel. "I've not seen her for twenty-eight years, pirate, and I'm not gonna wait a minute more for some scumbag to continue pretending he doesn't know shit! Now, Snow says she was with you, so... where... is... she?"

Hook pushed the prince away. "Never was much for guessing games. And much as I'd like to stay and chat... your highnesses, I have no time to do so... and come to think of it, I don't have the inclination either, so get the hell out of my way."

David took a stance in front of the pirate. "We have our memories back now; we know who you are... Captain Hook."

"Do you now? How... Charming."

"You must think you're hilarious."

"Aye, and handsome, to boot."

David lurched his shoulders forward. "If you think for one minute I will allow a pirate to go anywhere NEAR my daughter..."

Devlin frowned. "Aye, it would seem like an angered father would quite have to watch out for his fair daughter's virtue around a pirate crew, except, I have no clue who your daughter is, mate, and if you don't mind, there is a pressing issue that I have to attend before another pirate takes what's mine, so... If you'd be so kind..."

David grabbed Devlin again and was about to punch him in the face when Mary Margaret stepped in. "Enough, David." She then turned kindly to the biking rocker. "It's Emma, Devlin." She spoke softly. "Emma's our daughter."

The young man frowned, then bit his lip and then looked back at them. "Emma. The sheriff? She's a bleedin' princess? MY Emma?" He chuckled.

"Not yours if I can help it!" David growled behind gritted teeth.

Mary Margaret turned to him. "Charming! What's gotten into you?"

The tall, blonde prince looked from his wife to Devlin. "Snow, he's a pirate... a rock-star or whatever!"

"And you're a shepherd!" she spat back. "But that didn't stop you from waking me with your kiss, did it?" She grinned at him and placed her hands on his chest. "He was the one who received Emma's kiss. True love's kiss! Remember that that's the thing about love... it can come in the most unexpected places..." She begged with her eyes. "Try and understand."

Hands on his hips, David huffed and pressed his lips together. He then looked up at Devlin. "You do drugs?"

"Listen, mate, if she really is your daughter, then you might want to save the Q&A for another more adequate setting, say, a pleasant game of croquet..." Devlin uttered with the utmost tone of sarcasm. "Because for now, we have far more important matters to deal with, so either you help me or you get the bloody hell out of my path, because I don't care who you are, I will go over you to get her back from him."

"Him?" Snow frowned.

Devlin 's scowl turned into a more vulnerable looking inverted v as he licked his lower lip. "If it's Emma's integrity you seek to protect, then we are on the same quest." He shook his head "I am not the pirate that you should worry about."

Snow paled even more than her already snow white complexion. "Long John Silver..." she spoke under her breath.

Devlin nodded. "Aye."

David's expression had morphed from anger to concern. "Wait... how did he come by her?"

Devlin shook his head and sneered. "Look, love, I can set up a nice round table and we can sit and discuss the issue over a spot of tea and crumpets, or we can just get her the bloody hell away from him before he..." the words burned his vocal chords and he had to swallow a large amount of saliva to quench the fire. "...before he does the unthinkable with her."

David was sweating by now. "Define... unthinkable."

The pirate stepped an inch away from David's face with a sneer. "I'm a gentleman, and you are her father, so in the name of good form, I will not repeat the foul utterance of his plans. Just take my word... it's not good."

David and Mary Margaret exchanged looks swiftly before turning to him. "I am good with a blade." David nodded. "I'll come with you."

Snow nodded. "So am I."

Both David and Hook looked at her with a sneer. "Snow, maybe... you can sit this one out..."

She turned an angry stare at him. "I am the best tracker you have."

"But..."

She stood full face before him. "Are we going to discuss chauvinism in extreme danger now, Charming? REALLY?"

"Fellas..." Devlin huffed. "Seriously... tic toc!"

"Right." David finally nodded. "You have... anything for us? Blades? Bows and arrows?"

"Aye. My first mate's meeting us at Toll Bridge, he will bring what we need."

David huffed and despite still being perceptively uncomfortable with the idea of having a three hundred and something year old pirate for a son in law, he needed to get his daughter out of harm's way. He nodded at Hook. "Lead the way... Captain."

Hook nodded back in acknowledgement and was turning back to his Harley when snow stopped him by the arm. He turned and found her grinning kindly. "Thank you." She spoke softly. "I was wrong about you, Devlin. You do love her."

"Does that surprise you?"

"Well, you did have a very bad reputation back then... So I am surprised... And impressed."

He grinned and bit his lip. "Same here... I can see where your daughter got her gumption, highness." He looked up into David's general direction and grinned mischievously back at Snow. "... and it certainly wasn't from her father."

Snow chuckled and nodded. "Come on. Let's go get our Emma back."

...

Belle touched every object in the store gingerly; many of these things were the exact same she remembered from his palace and many had a dark history behind them. She turned when the sound of the bell rang atop the door and was met by the same soulful eyes she knew and loved. In this world, they were brown as opposed to the alligator-like yellow and gold she had met him with. His entire façade was far kinder and in spite of the darkness, there was still that small glimmer of light within that drew her to his heart.

His expression melted into tenderness as she slowly walked to him. She saw how tears had begun to well in his eyes as he stared in awe; she was indeed, as her name stated, a beauty... and he prayed she no longer remembered him as a beast. All fears dissipated and a tear slid down his face, finding its way to the ground as she mumbled, almost imperceptibly... "Rumple..."

He smiled and took one single step in her direction, feeling her hand on his cheek, still unable to articulate, fearing that a sound, a small noise, the utterance of her name from his lips could curse this perfect moment. He felt his soul reach unparalleled peace like he hadn't ever felt in his life, when her hand touched his cheek. Her eyes, blue like sapphires, shone behind a gleaming layer of fresh tears that fell evenly with his own. "I remember..." She wept smiling.

Only then did he feel he had the pluck to say her name. "Belle..."

She held him hard and pressed her lips against his. How he had yearned for her, how he had missed her touch and her love, something he lacked and was still so scared to accept; he felt undeserving of her, of his son, of everything he was and wasn't... only now did he feel like a real man and not a monster.

Courage. He'd finally found it.

He made a mental note to thank the Captain and cancel his debt.

...

Emma still tried hard to use what little strength she had left to pry her attacker off. He was incredibly big but he had taken a couple good blows to the groin; but that hadn't deterred him from getting her; for every kick he got, she got a punch that would make her dizzy before she found the stamina to continue struggling. There was no way, NO WAY this man was going to... well, fuck her. Not a chance. But it was getting harder and harder to overcome his overpowering strength.

At one point, she managed to stand and kick his face, sending a groaning Long John Silver in a backflip; her blouse had been ripped and she felt the wind graze under the shreds of what had been one of her favorite blouses. _"So much for Channel..."_ she moaned to her insides as she tried to run to the mouth of the cave; her hands were bleeding from continuously trying to free herself from the binding strength of the silver colored duct tape but she continued to wriggle them around desperately. As she ran, she reached with both hands to her mouth and painfully ripped the tape on her lips apart.

She drew a deep breath and growled as she continued climbing up the rugged cave exit... but a sudden thud in the back of her head made her stop cold. "Good aim..." she thought as she keeled sideways to the floor, stunned but fully conscious. She felt the warmth of blood under her temple and was now unable to respond when he turned her violently to him. She barely managed to focus on his hideous face, bloody nosed and teeth gritted like some rabid dog.

"I'll have you... while I see the light in your eyes fade... Sherif Swan..." He hissed. "You will die... and you will die knowing that the last thing you ever felt... was me... claiming that which was once Captain Hook's love."

His hand tugged at her trousers, just enough to make her realize this was a battle she was going to lose. But as he started to pry himself between her, his hands reached for her neck, grabbing and squeezing harder... her thoughts flew to her son's freckles, his lashy eyes and his smile... how she loved Henry! How infair it had been for her to know him for such a short amount of time... how she wished to go back in time and cradle him in her arms instead of giving him up... how sorry she was she had taken so long to believe her own child... How she prayed that even if she died, someone, maybe even Regina, would be there for him. Then she thought of Devlin. Prayed he'd find a way out of his debts and his misery... knowing well this would be the second time he'd lose his love. She wanted to look out for him from wherever she was about to go and see a smile upon his face, a real one. She wished for his band to make it out of Storybrooke and be big... and she wanted him to recover from his past and grin when he remembered her. She thought of Mary Margaret and David and how ironic it was that only now that she had finally found her mom and dad, she'd have to leave them this way...

And she prayed to god she'd be dead before he found his way inside of her.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Came David's angered holler... just in time. He kicked Silver away from Emma while Devlin ran to her side, removing his jacket to cover her exposed skin. He held her head and saw the blood on his hand. Her eyes were closed and she felt limp in his arms.

"No, no, no..." He whispered, near panic. "Emma, please..."

She opened her eyes and a flood of relief took over her. She returned a grin as an exchange for his terribly concerned façade. "Please allow me to cut off his balls when you're done with him." She grinned.

Devlin laughed and held her to him. He then looked into her eyes. "Are you well?"

"Do I look well?" she started to push herself up, one hand on her head. "God that hurts..."

Devlin licked his lips repeatedly. "I mean... did he... did...?"

"No. David kicked him off." She looked into his relieved eyes with an amused but questioning scorn. "You old-fashioned, long jacketed old soldier type guys really do take that shit seriously, don't you?"

He grinned and nodded. "Aye... and everyone should. No one should ever touch a lady like this."

"You never did?"

"What?"

She tilted her head with a grin. "You are a pirate..."

He held her stare and chuckled, looking down. "Aye, that I am. But I also play in good form."

"What do you mean? You or your crew never...?"

"Dishonored a woman?" he held her stare, eyes wide open. "No, love. Not ever... not unless she came to me of her own accord, anyway..." He chuckled and tilted his head with a side-grin. "... and as you may gather, being devilishly handsome does have its perks..."

She smiled hard. "You are the most pompous, arrogant, conceited asshole I've ever met..." she then placed her bound wrist around his neck. "And I love you."

He grinned and kissed her before speaking again. "Get out, love. We'll sort him out."

"What? No!" She sneered at him. "I'm fighting this fucker!"

"Emma!." He sneered. "Language!"

"I don't give a shit about that right now, Killian, cut me lose and let me help you kick his ass!"

The rocker grinned. "Your mother's child indeed..." He unfolded himself from her embrace and pretty much used his own teeth and hook to cut through the duct tape.

As they stood, Emma pulled up her jeans and zipped up his jacket to cover herself. "Right. Let's tear his heart out..."

"Wait, Emma..." He stopped her by the arm. "I gave my word not to kill him."

"To whom?"

He tilted his head I n the direction of the cave mouth and she saw a helpless young boy standing around with a panick stricken demeanor. She remembered her thoughts as Silver was choking her, remembering Henry... and this boy was not much older than her own boy. "Ok..." she nodded. "But I will get his balls."

Killian laughed. "All yours, darling."

Long John, wiped his lip and licked the blood from it as he looked up at him. "So..." he laughed. "Prince James... Would it be safe to assume that Hook's harlot is none other than the little brat that you and your "princess" sent over to this realm in a cabinet? It's a legendary, touching story, that..."

"Emma is our daughter and YOUR princess..." He gnarled back, holding out a sword to his face. "So not only do you owe her your allegiance, but you have also perpetrated an extremely serious offense against her." He pressed the sword hard against his throat. "Not to mention you have REALLY pissed us all off."

"Pirate is as pirate does!" He laughed and smiled. "And what can I say? You and your pretty wife did make a delicious young woman. I enjoyed that..."

David felt the tears sting his eyes. "You bastard..."

"Enjoyed what? You didn't even get THAT right, limpdick!"

David turned to find Emma and Killian joining him, swords held up, and Snow approaching with a fully stretched bow. He looked at her. "So... he didn't...?"

"Are you kidding me?" She chuckled. "He couldn't handle it." She looked at him with an odd grin. "So... you're... my..."

"I am..." He nodded, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I hate to spoil the party there, but might I suggest a different setting for the happy family reunion? We have a live one here..." Hook chimed.

Snow smiled aggressively. "Oh, he won't move a muscle."

Soon, he was surrounded: Smee, Daggerball, Deadweight, Flynt... and his son, all stood holding blades in his direction.

"Ah, tis mutiny I see..." he scowled.

Long John's eyes were focused on the boy who pleaded with him. "Father?" He swallowed. "Please... no more."

With a grunt, the towering pirate caved in. "And you had to bring my boy, Hook... Bad form."

"No mate..." Killian returned the glare. "The boy brought us. And you should forever be in his debt for it... because he is the only reason I am not cutting a new smile on your neck right now."

Silver was silent. He sneered as he raised his hands up in defeat. Emma moved in and grabbed the duct tape he had taken back into the cave with him, using it to tie his hands together. With strength that shocked all, she managed to pull him to his feet, and stood face to face with him. "I told you this wench could hold her own." And saying this, she took her right knee all the way up his groin, making him bend forward in searing pain. She leaned in and pulled his hair, talking into his ear. "Now, I'll send you a postcard to Cedar Junction Correctional in Boston, Silver, maybe you can tell me when a ten-foot black guy from Mattapan with a tattooed dick claims you as his bitch. You will remember me then." She threw his head forward and all started to walk out the cave for the patrol. Once in there, she dropped the sword and went for her gun in the glove compartment.

Once they all got to Storybrooke and Long John was in his cell, Emma went over to Mary Margaret's to check on Henry.

Blessed boy was asleep. She kissed his head and caressed his brown hair. "You were the first hero..." she whispered lovingly into his ear. "I love you, Henry."

She closed the curtain that separated the bed from the lounge area and was met with more than a few inquisitive eyes. Mary Margaret finally had a chance to greet her fully grown daughter. She held her face between her hands, tears in her eyes. "You found us..." she wept.

"Would seem so." She smiled back. "But please, don't ask me to... you know... call you mom?"

Mary Margaret smiled and continued to hold her. Slowly, Emma began to smile too. Given, it was unconventional, but she was a mother herself and she tried to imagine what that pretty young brunette must have gone through, having to send her infant child away for her own good.

Killian and Charming grinned form the other side of the room. "Must be quite a moment..." Killian chimed.

"Don't mock, pirate." David replied softly.

"I'm not, Prince."

David sighed. "You can't imagine what it feels like to be with her again... after twenty-eight years of... nothing." He nodded and sighed. "I have my whole family back... Grandson and all."

Devlin scratched the back of his ear. "... and a son-in-law... of sorts. If you'll give me your blessing, that is."

Charming turned with a frown. "Wait, wait... are you... asking me for her hand in marriage, or something?"

"I am."

The prince side-grinned. "That's pretty honorable for a pirate."

"I'm an honorable man, mate."

David chuckled and shook his head as he turned to Hook. "Do you call everyone, mate?"

"Yeah, mate."

The prince laughed and gave him a backslap. "You're an impossible creature, Jones." He looked at him and sighed. "But... who the hell am I to get in the way of true love, huh?"

Killian smiled and raised his eyebrow. "For once, I agree with you, Prince..." that got him a funny glance from David. Hook shook his head excitingly. "I told you we'd be getting along!"

"Yeah, you're growing on me, I can feel it."

Killian laughed and looked at her. She had blood on her head and a blackened cheek, not to mention she'd probably have nightmares for weeks. But she was so strong, so resilient... the savior. His savior. To him, even under the dirt and the signs of the scuffle, she was the most glorious creature on earth. He made a mental note to his Milah, kissed her goodbye and welcomed the thought of Emma being his everything.

"You really love her?" He heard David's voice from a long distance away.

"Yes." He simply whispered back.

David nodded. "Well, then... if she'll have you, it's good enough for me."

After a silent nod of acknowledgement, Killian strode towards her and stood by as she and Mary Margaret broke their teary embrace. She looked at him and bit her lower lip. "I saved you, you saved me..." she grinned and wrapped her arms around his waist. "What the hell is that?"

"It's the way it's meant to be..." he replied, right hand on her left cheek, caressing her bruise with a thumb. "I will be there... always. For you."

She smiled and they came together in a gentle kiss that was broken by the sound of "The Charmings" going for a world record in kissing.

Hard kissing.

"Awkward..." Emma looked away.

"Shall we make a contest out of it?" He teased.

"Yeah, so if my son wakes up he finds himself a witness to a family orgy? No thank you!" She laughed back. "But I do wanna know something..."

"Ask, my love..."

"Pirate or rock star?"

He smirked at her. "Whichever one my lady wishes."

She smiled and sighed. "Well, first we have to see what to do about Regina; then we have to sort your thing out with Gold. But then..." she smiled. "... but then, I want to hear that song you wrote for me... in front of everyone."

"We'll be one guitar short."

"So make it a five-member band! There!" she laughed. "Never heard of Guns N' Roses?"

"That can be arranged, I suppose... very well." He bit his lip. "But I still get to sail my Jolly. I'm a sea captain. Not up for discussion."

"Aye, aye, sir, as long as you take me along..."

"You and whomever you wish to accompany us, my darling. My ship is your ship now too." He kissed her swiftly. "You can be my first mate..."

She nodded. "I don't know about your "first", but I'll settle for "forever" mate..."

He grinned and remained silent for a few seconds. He then bit his lower lip. "I'm on this for the long haul, Emma... you might want to consider that.. You know, in case you might want to... reconsider being with me."

She gave him a playful punch. "It's true love, you asshole, why would I even begin to think otherwise? Can't fight this shit, can I?"

Killian smiled at her and kissed her gently before holding her to him hard. "Well, well, Lady Swan... You certainly don't behave like a princess..." he leaned in and winked at her. "... and I love that."

"Oh you haven't seen a thing yet..." She whispered to his ear. "Take me back to that cabin sometime soon and I'll show you what I mean..."

That got a very unexpected but highly provocative groan from Killian. He smiled. "Say when..."

"When."

Killian pulled away with a mild scorn. "Do you think it wise, my love? After what you've been through today, I..."

"That's precisely why." She cut abruptly. "I'm yours. I don't want to have that memory in me anymore; I need to replace it..." She smiled and touched his cheek. "...with someone I do love." Killian grinned at her. "Besides, look at those two, why would I want to get in the way of snow White and her Prince Charming?"

Killian chuckled. "Then it is done, although I am not sure I could get the cabin..."

Emma shrugged. "Granny's?"

He nodded excitedly. "Or a kennel at the local pet shelter?"

Emma laughed aloud. "Well, as long as there's room service!"

That got a very loud laugh from Captain Hook. "I do have a decent chamber in the ship. No extra fee, no canine hair all over the place..."

Emma pulled him one hand and one hook, to the door. "Let's set sail, Captain... make speed!"

Killian smiled and allowed himself to be tugged out by his Savior, he turned his face to The Charmings who had all but stopped kissing and were staring in shock at the happy young couple. He winked at them "Take care of the lad! See you in the morrow!"

THE END


End file.
